New Delhi: Registrations for the 2013 edition of Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM), the world’s most prestigious half marathon, were announced open during a press conference held in the capital city. This year’s ADHM will be held on 15th December 2013 at the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi and mark the 6th consecutive year of this annual sporting event’s success.
Celebrating the human spirit once again, ADHM 2013 is expected to see participation from over 30,000 sports loving Delhi-ites (including professional athletes, serious runners, health and fitness enthusiasts) who will run alongside some of the world’s best long distance athletes to celebrate their common passion for running.
The registrations for ADHM 2013 were declared open at the Official Host Hotel, Le Meridian in the presence of members from Airtel, officials from Athletics Federation of India (AFI), various partners as well as Anil Singh of Procam International, promoters of the event.
Commenting on the occasion, Mohit Beotra (Chief Brand Officer - Bharti Airtel India) said, “Over the years, we have seen Airtel Delhi Half Marathon play an increasingly prominent role in bringing us closer to the vibrant and spirited side of Delhi. We are proud to be affiliated with this annual sporting event for the transformational role it plays in bringing individuals, organizations and institutions together to celebrate their common love for running – and look forward to an even more buzzing edition of ADHM this year”.
The event will also witness the presence of some of the biggest names from the world of sport as Event Ambassadors. Besides the Half Marathon, which occupies pride of place, race day has been packed with features like the Great Delhi Run, the Senior Citizen's Run and the Wheelchair Event, giving every Delhiite above the age of 12 years an opportunity to emerge winners in their own right.
Bollywood actress and fitness icon Bipasha Basu will continue to be ADHM’s ‘Face of the Event’.
In a message to her fans and followers, Bipasha said, “This is my 4th year as the face of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and it has been a pleasure. I love the energy that the team and the runners have. It’s always amazing to watch a sea of people running towards their respective causes - some do it as a fitness goal, some for the experience and some towards a social cause and some just for the joy of running. It’s wonderful. This year I am all set to release my new fitness DVD “Unleash”. It is a highly specialized form of strength training including Plyometric and cardiovascular moves. So be happy, feel strong and stay fit & fabulous, and Love Yourself. I look forward to catching you at ADHM this year.”
Over years, the response achieved by ADHM in terms of registrations has been heartwarming. Last year, 10,600 runners registered for the half marathon and this figure is expected to be higher this time around with 11,000 running slots reserved for the Half Marathon category alone.
Ratified by the Association of International Marathons and Road Races and conducted under the Aegis of AFI, ADHM 2013 is the world's most prestigious Half Marathon. Procam International, promoters of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, continues to evolve the professional standards of the event in order to remain among the best road running competition in the world.
Prize money of USD 210,000 on offer helps the event maintain its status as the world's richest half marathon and is expected to attract 40 of the world's top 100 male and female long distance athletes. New course records carry a bonus of USD 7,500 each, in addition to the attractive prize money, which sees the overall men’s and women’s winners getting richer by USD 25,000. The Indian course records also carry a bonus of Rs 1 lakh each.
The 2013 edition of the event will see the association of Global Sports Communication (GSC), the world’s leading athlete managers and elite athlete coordinators, with the event and their immediate commitment is to make an attempt at lowering the existing course records. According to Jos Hermens, a former Olympian who heads GSC, the flat course of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and the cool climate that is prevalent in New Delhi in mid-December makes for a very fast race and increases highly the possibility of new course records being set. GSC, who have among their stable of athletes legends like Haile Gebrselassie, Kinenisa Bikele, the current men’s Olympic and World Marathon champion, Stephen Kiprotich and the current women’s Olympic Marathon champion Tiki Gelana, to name a few, are confident of attracting many of the world’s fastest male and female athletes to come down to Delhi and have a go at the course records.
Reebok Running Squad:
With an eye on improving the running experience of the amateur runner, the Reebok Running Squad has been initiated by Reebok India.
The Reebok Running Squad would not only provide excellent training and guidance at 7 locations in Delhi this winter, but the runners would also get a chance to earn their special runner kits, get personalized training schedules and a lot more.
Arjuna Awardee Sunita Godara, the 1992 Asian Marathon Champion, who also holds the Indian record for running the maximum marathons will the Master Trainer for this squad, sessions of which will be held at the following locations:
1. Nehru Park, Chanakyapuri Diplomatic Enclave of New Delhi
2. Saket, New Delhi
3. Mahamaya Park, Noida
4. Leisure Valley, Gurgaon
5. Lodhi Gardens, New Delhi
6. Center Park, New Delhi
7. Delhi University, Delhi
Registrations for the Reebok Running Squad will open on October 4 and will be available on first-come-first-served basis. Training will begin from s October 12, every Saturday and Sunday.
Log on to procamrunning.in or reebok running web page for more details.
DHL Corporate Champions: A new race category called the DHL Corporate Champions has been introduced for teams of Companies & Firms. A company/organization/firm can field a team comprising of 3 runners for the DHL Corporate Championship, each team member covering a distance of 21.097 km. A company can field up to 5 teams. The aggregate timing of all 3 runners will decide the team’s finish position in this category.
The winning team will gain Rs 1,25,000, plus a trophy, besides merit certificates and medals for team members, while the runner-up team will win Rs 75,000, plus a trophy, merit certificates and medals. Participation certificates will be awarded to members of all teams.
The timed runner category in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon has been growing by leaps and bounds over the years and has helped elevate the level of the half marathon field to an extent where all participants in that category can be termed serious runners.
Going further, ADHM will recognize the efforts of the serious runners by offering priority starts to them based on their timings. Based on the timing certificates, runners will be eligible for priority lineups on race day and will be divided into five sections. The first section will be for runners under 1 hour 55 minutes, followed by those between 1.55 hours and below 2.15 hours. The third section will be for runners of 2.15 to below 2.35 hours, while the fourth section will be for runners between 2.35 hours and below 2.50 hours. The last section will be for those with timing above 2.50 hours and those with no timing certificates.
The timing certificate will also ensure that the applicant gets preference over non-timed participants in the registration process. There will also be a number of running places reserved for women applicants to encourage them to train and run in the half marathon. Applicants who are not timed will fall in the open category, for which there will be limited places that will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis.
