Hutch Delhi Half Marathon on october 28, 2007 – The Hutch Delhi Half Marathon, is today the most exemplary jewel in the crown of the sporting calendar of the city of Delhi – the capital of India.

With Prize Money of USD 160,000 on offer, the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon is the world’s richest half marathon. The Event attracts participation of 40 of the top 100 world ranking athletes. Mr. Hugh Jones, Secretary of AIMS, is the Technical Director to the event. The AIMS-certified course takes in the beautiful, historically-significant monuments and architecture of Delhi, from India Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, showcasing the capital in all its splendour.

The inaugural edition in the year 2005 saw Philip Rugut of Kenya, clocking 1:01:54, breaking the course record set at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 2004, held in New Delhi by 21 seconds. The second edition in 2006 set a new course record of 1:01:36 by Francis Kibiwott of Kenya.

Apart from the Half Marathon, the event encompasses the Great Delhi Run (7 km), the Senior Citizens’ Run (4.3 km) and the Wheelchair Event (4.3 km).

The Great Delhi Run is a celebration that underscores communal harmony. It involves people from all walks of life and of all age groups – celebrities, corporates, politicians and students. More than 2,000 elderly people, all loaded with energy and enthusiasm, participate in the Senior Citizens’ Run. The Wheelchair Event showcases the spirit of the physically challenged.

The event is telecast live to over 90 countries in the Pan-Asian footprint and parts of Europe.

The 25000 individuals who participate across race categories, positively and selflessly support the cause of charity. Participants raise funds for charities and initiatives that they believe in.
The 2006 edition helped raise USD 280,000, a 50% increase over the amount raised in the year 2005.

Procam & Distance Running in India

Before the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM), the only large scale community participative event, being conducted on a regular basis in India were religious festivals. That was until the SCMM became a movement, a movement that has made Mumbai and India proud. There was no concept of an event that could elicit participation of both genders, from across the socio – economic profile.
They were surprised that a sporting event had the power to provide a grandmother and grandson, across social strata, a platform on which they could set their own competitive goals and emerge winners on race day.

For a private company the task to take on and deliver a marathon in megalopolis like Mumbai & Delhi was daunting to say the least. The challenges were multi dimensional. A skeptical government wondering what are we up to. A National Federation, concerned about losing control of something that could potentially be a big ticket item.
Sponsors and partners who just would not believe that in a country that “does not run”, thousands would wake up on a foggy morning in order to run for themselves and…more importantly for something larger….a social cause or charity that they believed in. It was a watershed event that caused a paradigm shift of mindset in India.
And that shall remain the legacy of Procam International.

The huge hype generated by the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon and Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon races have also helped the running cause. The Mumbai marathon is now an integral part of the Standard Chartered Bank initiative, The Greatest Race On Earth – four elite marathons with Nairobi, Singapore and Hong Kong. The success of Mumbai has also motivated a number other Indian cities to promote their own marathons. With this trend, India has become an important destination for marathoners from all over the world.

Says Sunita Godara (1990 national marathon champion), “These events have given a new packaging to marathon running in India. Now taking part in marathons has become the ‘in’ thing — a style and fashion statement.” The fact that the business tycoons are eschewing fashionable sports like squash and golf to take part in marathons is also making running more up market.

Besides helping promote the running & fitness culture in the country, the Marathons have significantly helped the cause of the Indian elite athletes. The separate prize fund for Indian athletes has been instrumental in raising their performances.
Ram Singh Yadav, the winner in the Indian category, finished in the 16th position overall with a timing of 02:20:33 in the Full Marathon of SCMM 2007, an improved timing of more than 4 minutes than the 02:24:43 posted by Nathuram in SCMM 2006.

At the charity front too, the Events have made a strong statement. The SCMM is now the single-largest fund raising Event in the country with almost USD 2 million raised in the 2007 edition. The Hutch Delhi Half Marathon 2006 raised over USD 276, 000 for over 100 different charities.

Race Director of both races in Mumbai and Delhi is Vivek Singh, since april 2007 new member of the AIMS Board of Directors

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Hutch Delhi Half Marathon