9 things you need to know about the Wipro Chennai Marathon

Running and marathons have become quite the rage in India in over the last few years. Almost every major city holds its own marathon with even some of the smaller cities slowly coming up with their own offerings as running and fitness have taken a greater place in the public consciousness. As December comes around, it is time for the annual Wipro Chennai Marathon and here is a brief fact sheet about the event:

#1 Sunday, December 7th

When is it happening? This Sunday, the 7th of December, the third Wipro Chennai Marathon kicks off at 4 AM with the full distance marathon while the half-marathon and 10K races start at 5.15 AM and 7 AM respectively.

#2 Race categories

There are three different categories under which runners will take part. There is the flagship event, the 42.195 km full marathon which will take the runners through major places in the city, from both the old and new world. Then there’s the half marathon at 21.1 km which serves as the middle ground for people who don’t want to go the distance. And finally there’s the 10K (10 km run), the most popular one which attracts the most participants, ideally suited for amateurs and first-timers.

The top five runners finishing the full marathon will pocket prize money of Rs. 50,000, Rs. 40,000, Rs. 30,000 and Rs 20,000 (for the fourth and fifth finishers), respectively.

#3 Chennai runners

The event itself is the brainchild of a group called the ‘Chennai Runners’, a running evangelist group that has been active in the city for many years now. The numbers have swelled each year with 12,000 people having registered for the 2014 edition. This is the third edition of the Wipro Chennai Marathon, now a regular annual feature which sees the Chennai Runners and tech major Wipro coming together to get people running together.

#4 Training groups

The Chennai Runners have also been helping participants prepare for the big event. It has established several chapters across the city, accessible through Facebook and Google Groups, that the registered runners can join up with and train together for the marathon.

#5 Official blog

The event also has its own blog where there are plenty of posts ranging from informative to humorous anecdotes from the running community. Training plans, check lists, different sorts of routines and health tips, its all there on the blog.

#6 Health and fitness expo

The participants will be collecting their bibs on Saturday at an event titled The Hindu Health and Fitness Expo 2014 – a day-long event dedicated to exercise, fitness and healthy living. Runners will have the opportunity to meet with pacers for Sunday’s race as well as shop at various stalls that will be selling running gear and other exercise and health equipments. There are also many informative panel discussions planned for the day.

#7 Running for charity

As with most marathons, the Wipro Chennai Marathon has been keen on giving back to society and has since its inception partnered with United Way of Chennai, a charitable trust, in identifying deserving charitable organizations in the city to whom the proceeds from the event can be passed on too. The figure raised from the event last year stood at Rs. 42 lakh. Around 30 NGOs will benefit from the event this year.

#8 Running Partners

Sports apparel manufacturer Adidas is the ‘Running Partner’ for the event and has come up with special T-shirts and shoes on the occasion of the event.

#9 Couch to 10K and beyond

The organizers of the race this year have introduced a novel ‘reality series’ called ‘Couch to 10K and beyond’. As part of the program, a few beginner runners were identified and set up with veteran runners Arun Krishnan and Venugopalan as mentors. Along with help from various other runners in the community, it is aimed at helping interested, but people new to the running field, prepare effectively for the event with an aim of promoting running.