Mumbai Marathon

The Mumbai Marathon (known as the Tata Mumbai Marathon for sponsorship reasons by Tata Group), is an annual international marathon held in Mumbai, India, on the third Sunday of January every year. It is the largest marathon in Asia as well as the largest mass participation sporting event on the continent. It is the richest race in India with a prize pool of US$405,000.

Mumbai Marathon
The logo for Mumbai Marathon
DateThird Sunday of January
LocationMumbai, Maharashtra, India
Event typeRoad running
DistanceMarathon, Half marathon, 10K run
Primary sponsorTata
Established2004 (2004)
Course recordsMen: 2:08:15 (2020)
Derara Hurisa
Women: 2:24:33 (2013)
Valentine Kipketer
Official siteMumbai Marathon

The Mumbai Marathon has six different race categories: Marathon (42.195 km), Half Marathon (21.097 km), Dream Run (6 km), Senior Citizens' Run (4.3 km), Champions with Disability (2.4 km), and a Timed 10K.

The course records set in 2013 were the fastest times ever run for a marathon in India in the women's marathon category – 2:24:33 by the women's winner Valentine Kipketer, Kenya. In 2020, Derara Hurisa broke the men's marathon record, completing the race in 2:08:15.

The marathon is an event where people from all walks of life participate including Bollywood celebrities, sports personalities, business tycoons and amateur athletes.

History

Inspired by the London Marathon, Procam International believed that Mumbai would support such a road race. The first event was held in 2004, titled as the Standard Chartered Mumbai International Marathon. Standard Chartered Bank continued as the event's title sponsor for 14 years up until 2017. In 2018, the Tata Group and Tata Consultancy Services replaced Standard Chartered as the Marathon sponsor for a period of 10 years [1].

In 2005, Mumbai Marathon was included as one of the legs of "The Greatest Race on Earth", sponsored by Standard Chartered. The other three legs of this four-marathon race were the Singapore Marathon, the Nairobi Marathon and the Hong Kong Marathon, which were all sponsored by the Bank as well.

The race became an IAAF Silver Label Road Race in 2009. The IAAF elevated the race to an IAAF Gold Label Road Race in 2010 which was taken away in 2013[2] remaining unlabelled until 2018 when the Silver Label was awarded. The 2019 edition was classified as a Gold Label again.[3]

Organization

Mumbai Marathon is the property of Procam International Pvt. Ltd., a Mumbai-based sports management company. Procam International also owns other road races in India such as the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, Tata Consultancy Services World 10K Bangalore, and Tata Steel Kolkata 25K.

The Race
Runners at the 2008 Mumbai Marathon.

The six categories cater to different participants. They are the Marathon (42.195 km), Half Marathon (21.097 km), Dream Run (6 km), Senior Citizens Event (4.3 km), and Champions with Disability Event (2.4 km). The Timed 10K has been introduced from the 2018 edition of the Mumbai Marathon.

The marathon starts opposite Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai. It passes many of the city's iconic locations such as Flora Fountain, Marine Drive, Chowpatty, Haji Ali, Mahim Church, and the Bandra–Worli Sea Link. The London marathon winner and the secretary of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, Hugh Jones, is the race director.

Past winners

Key:   Course record

Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
1st 2004  Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 2:15:47  Wioletta Uryga (POL) 2:47:53
2nd 2005  Julius Sugut (KEN) 2:13:20  Mulu Seboka (ETH) 2:35:03
3rd 2006  Daniel Rono (KEN) 2:12:03  Mulu Seboka (ETH) 2:33:15
4th 2007  John Kelai (KEN) 2:12:27  Yang Fengxia (CHN) 2:36:16
5th 2008  John Kelai (KEN) 2:12:23  Mulu Seboka (ETH) 2:30:04
6th 2009  Kenneth Mugara (KEN) 2:11:51  Kebebush Haile (ETH) 2:34:08
7th 2010  Denis Ndiso (KEN) 2:12:40  Bizunesh Urgesa (ETH) 2:31:09
8th 2011  Girma Assefa (ETH) 2:09:54  Koren Jelela (ETH) 2:26:56
9th 2012  Laban Moiben (KEN) 2:10:48  Netsanet Achamo (ETH) 2:26:12
10th 2013  Jackson Kiprop (UGA) 2:09:32  Valentine Kipketer (KEN)[4] 2:24:33
11th 2014[5]  Evans Rutto (KEN) 2:09:33  Dinknesh Mekash (ETH) 2:28:08
12th 2015[6]  Tesfaye Abera (ETH) 2:09:46  Dinknesh Mekash (ETH) 2:30:00
13th 2016  Gideon Kipketer (KEN) 2:08:35  Shuko Genemo (ETH) 2:27:50
14th 2017  Alphonce Simbu (TAN) 2:09:32  Bornes Kitur (KEN) 2:29:02
15th 2018  Solomon Deksisa (ETH) 2:09:34  Amane Gobena (ETH) 2:25:49
16th 2019  Cosmas Lagat (KEN) 2:09:15  Worknesh Alemu (ETH) 2:25:45
17th 2020  Derara Hurisa (ETH) 2:08:09  Amane Beriso (ETH) 2:24:51

The event helped bridge the gap between Indian elite athletes and the international elite. Mumbai Marathon provides Indian runners with a platform to compete with the best in the world. The dream of qualifying for the London Olympics became a reality for Ram Singh Yadav, who clocked his best marathon time of 2:16:59 at the 2012 edition.

Charity

The Mumbai Marathon is India's largest charity platform for non-profit organisations to raise funds. NGOs represent causes such as arts, culture and sports, civic and community development, disability, education, environment and wildlife, health, human rights, social services, vocational training, and women, children and the aged. Organizations register with the Event's official Philanthropy Partner, United Way Mumbai. Some NGOs used this event as a platform to raise awareness for their work, and some to directly raise funds. Fundraising is facilitated by an easy-to-use model designed for all groups to raise funds.

Over ₹1.9 billion (US$29 million) has been raised from year 2004 to year 2017.

The first race in 2004 had 22,000 participants and raised ₹14.4 million (US$269,000). Both the number of participants and amount of money raised rose drastically over the years with 30,000 people running in 2007 (₹79.4 million, US$1,490,000). The 2017 edition hosted 42,000 runners (₹ US$329 million5,087,761).

Dream Team

This special category is meant for highly motivated individuals who feel passionately about a cause and commit to raise a substantial sum of funds. Over the years, the Dream Team has seen a mix of business magnates, celebrities, socialites, NGO trustees and students. Levels include:

  • Dream Champion – minimum pledge of INR 1 million.
  • Dream Wizard – minimum pledge of INR 500,000
  • Dream Maker – minimum pledge of INR 100,000

Corporate Challenge

The Corporate Challenge is a category for companies who wish to sponsor employee teams to participate in event and raise funds. 166 companies fielded 257 Corporate Challenge teams at Mumbai Marathon 2013.

Philanthropy Partner

United Way Mumbai is Mumbai Marathon's Philanthropy Partner. UWM assumes the role of a "Philanthropy Exchange" for charities and non-profit organizations that register with the Event. The Philanthropy Partner's roles are to:

  • Facilitate & supplement pledge raising efforts of individuals, companies and NGOs.
  • Create, build and communicate the Charity Structure.
  • Work on all aspects of Charity like registrations, race day logistics, communications and receiving donations.
  • Accounting & reconciling of Pledges.
  • Disbursement of funds to beneficiary NGOs.
  • 80G receipts to all donors.

UWM maintains neutrality and ensures a level playing field among all participating NGOs. UWM also serves as an assurance to the donor that the NGO and the cause for which money is being donated are credible.

Flame of Marathon

Mumbai Marathon was the youngest marathon to be awarded the "Flame of the Marathon". It was flown in from Greece by Maria Polyzou, Greek Marathon Champion and Director of the Museum of Marathon Runs. They were received by then Mayor of Mumbai Smt. Shraddha Jadhav at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The flame was carried by sports luminaries, celebrities, sponsors/partners and dignitaries from the government in a flame relay to the Hutatma Chowk in Fountain, Mumbai. The participants of the torch relay were celebrities including Priya Dutt, Jaspal Bindra, Rahul Bose, John Abraham, Shobha De, Milind Soman, Dhanraj Pillay and Kiran More.

Trophy

To commemorate Mumbai Marathon's 10th edition, a rolling trophy was instituted, to be handed over to the men's and women's marathon champions.

The trophy was unveiled by Shri K. Sankaranarayanan, (then) Governor of Maharashtra.

The trophy was designed by artist and sculptor Shri Paresh Maity.

Event Ambassadors

The international ambassadors for the Mumbai Marathon have been:

Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff is the Face of the Event.

Sponsors/partners
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References
  1. "Tata replaces Standard Chartered as Mumbai Marathon sponsor". BestMediaInfo. 2 August 2017. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  2. "IAAF Label Road Races 2013". Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. "Mumbai Marathon gets IAAF gold label". The Hindu via (PTI). 15 September 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  4. "Mumbai Marathon 2013 Winner". Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  5. "Kenyan Evans Ruto, Ethiopian's Dinknesh Mekash sweep titles, Lalita Babbar breaks Indian Women's course record". Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  6. "Ethiopians ruled the roost in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2015". Online News India. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
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