INDIA: Charity Begins at Mumbai Marathon

MUMBAI (IndiaTimes), November 16, 2007: The charity aspect of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon continues to be a humbling source of pride for the title sponsors. Neeraj Swaroop, CEO, said at Wednesday's launch: "The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is the largest platform for raising funds for charity. Over Rs.79.4 million was raised in the 2007 edition benefiting over 144 NGOs." A maximum of 3000 running places are on offer for the January 20, 2008 Full Marathon, while 8000 places will be available for the Half Marathon. The Dream Run will accommodate 14,000 participants and 3000 places are reserved for the Corporate Challenge. 2500 entries will be permitted in the Senior Citizens Run, while 300 entries will be accepted for the Wheelchair Event, making the total number of participants around 30,000. The race categories for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2008 will be as follows: Full Marathon (42.195km) Half Marathon (21.097km) Sr. Citizens Run (4.3km) Wheelchair Event (2.5km) Dream Run (6km) The Corporate Sporting Challenge, a relay race involving teams of 6 runners, each runner covering an approximate distance of 7 km to finish the full marathon, met with an encouraging response last year and will be one of the major attractions for serious runners in the corporate field. The Corporate Sporting Challenge, along with the Corporate Challenge, the Dream Team and the Pledgers United are the vehicles that drive charity, one of the most important and positive initiatives of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. The 2007 edition saw approximately Rs 80 million being raised by people for various causes of their choice. Every edition of the event has seen a marked increase in the amount being raised towards charity and 2008 should be no exception. Responsibility for the same lies with GiveIndia, the official Charity Partner, who manages the entire exercise. The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2008 has attracted two of the biggest names in the health and fitness industry and sporting equipment and takes this opportunity to welcome on board Talwalkars as the Official Trainer to the event and Asics as the Sports Goods Partner. As the Official Trainer, Talwalkars, with 100 of their own trainers and 60 external trainers, will be bolstering the efforts of Mumbaikars towards becoming more accomplished distance runners. Having been in the fitness industry for 75 years, Talwalkars is well equipped with world class fitness equipments, both strength & cardio treadmills tread climbers, ellipticals, spin-cycles in order to provide the required training. Asics, the worlds leading running shoe company, brings with it invaluable experience of having been associated with some of the biggest athletics events around the world. By Pradeep Vijayakar, Times News Network