Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon gets positive response

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The Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon takes place next month.

Some big names in long distance running, led by the defending champions among men and women, Francis Kibiwott and Lineth Chepkirui, have confirmed their presence for the third edition of the event.


Promoters Procam International say that they have been swamped by a deluge of last minute entries. The firm claims that indications are strong that all the categories will be oversubscribed, with the event getting 30,000 participants.


The 2,500 running places in the Senior Citizens’ Run and the 200 in the Wheelchair Category have been filled up, with figures fast piling up for the Half Marathon and the Great Delhi Run. In view of this, and accounting for some amount of rejections, promoters Procam International are yet accepting entries because a window of opportunity still exists for runners desirous of enjoying the half marathon experience.
The response to the charity drive has also been encouraging, with personalities from all walks of life signing up for the Dream Team, while major corporate entities are lining up for the Corporate Challenge and the Corporate Sporting Challenge. In the past two editions the event has generated in excess of Rs 20 million towards charity and concerted efforts are on from GiveIndia, the Official Charity Partner, to ensure that the figure is eclipsed this time around.

Powerful Charity Drive: Film actresses Yana Gupta, Nafisa Ali, Ajay Bakaya of the Sarovar Group of Hotels and Ajay Bijli of the PVR Cinema Group are some of the prominent names already confirmed for the Dream Team, while some of the corporate majors who have signed up for the Corporate Challenge include HSBC, HDFC, Google, Apollo Tyres, Cannon, American Express Bank, Coca Cola, TV 18, NDTV, ABN Amro, ONGC, DELL, Ericsson, to name a few.

World Class Field: The best timing among men in the elite athlete field is credited to Kenya’s Patrick Makau, whose personal best is 58.56 minutes. The other names with sub-hour personal bests are Kenya’s Philip Rugut (59.45), the winner in 2005, Kenya’s Evans Cheruyiot (59.12), the winner at Rotterdam in 2007 and defending champion Francis Kibiwott of Kenya ( 59.26). Makau’s and Cheruyiot also have the distinction of recording the second and third fastest timings in the half marathon this year

Among the women, defending champion Lineth Chepkirui of Kenya will have to contend with the 2005 winner Irina Timpeyeva of Russia. The other big names in the field include Kenya’s Pamela Chepchumba, and Alice Timbilil, the winner and runner-up respectively at the Philadelphia half marathon 2007.

One of the new initiatives for the third edition of the Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon has been the Marathon Training Programs being conducted by Reebok, the Official Training and Sportswear Partner. The training programs have received an encouraging response from the people of Delhi and the corporates and will be one of the major vehicles towards improving and bettering the physical standards of running enthusiasts in the years to come.

Vodafone Initiatives: Vodafone has announced an invitation to the Residents Welfare Associations (RWA’s) of Delhi to be part of the Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon. It will provide an ideal platform to bring the welfare associations to centre stage by motivating the residents to participate in spirit and body. The best RWA will be judged by a noted celebrity on the race day basis certain predefined criteria.

The winning team will be given a cash prize of Rs. 100,000 which can be used effectively for the benefit of the RWA. In addition, the team members of the winning team will also get a cash prize of Rs. 5000 each. Besides, the three runners up teams will also get a cash prize of Rs. 20,000 each.

Hamster wheels have been put up in high congregation areas around the NCR region for people to get a feel of running the marathon. Young and energetic fitness enthusiasts are cheerleading those running on the Hamster wheel

Test your Stainless Will: An event like the half marathon throws up stories of the triumph of the human spirit and very few of these come to light during the event. The build-up till Race Day is as important as the actual run – the discipline, the practice, the teamwork, the motivation, the camaraderie and obviously the stainless will!

In another initiative, supported by Associate Sponsor Jindal Stainless, Procam International invites those who have experienced the magic of the half marathon to tell the world his or her story. The best stories will be put up on the official website and the top stories will be rewarded with Jindal Stainless art d’inox products.

Your Race Day Photos : Procam International has tied up with Marathon-Photos.com. For the first time in India, each runner will have an opportunity to own his/her momentous running highlights captured in photographs by Marathon-Photos.com, the official Photographer of the Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon.