India's biggest running event: All you need to know about the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon

A few good men

The Celeb Attraction

Another thing which propels and consolidates the international status of the Mumbai Marathon is its sponsorships and partners. Standard Chartered has been the title sponsor from 2004 while TCS is an associate sponsor.

The list of partners includes the big names such as Star Sports, BMW, Kingfisher, DHL etc. and is also supported by the Indian Navy and Maharashtra Government.

Former Formula One driver, Damon Hill, was the lucky one to be this year’s International Ambassador while Bollywood actor John Abraham is an official event ambassador. Last year the likes of Preity Zinta, Gul Panag, Juhi Chawla, Tina Ambani, Vivek Oberoi, Rahul Bose, Dia Mirza, Anil Ambani and Kalki Koechlin all made their appearance for the marathon which opens the door for much bigger names this time around.

For the Athletes

Jackson Kiprop

There is not going to be any shortage of big names at the Mumbai Marathon when it comes to celebrities, but the fact is the chances of these big names winning the race is as slim as the microorganisms which crawl inside our body.

And this leaves us with the legitimate athletes who get into the marathon with the aim of actually winning it. It gives the athletes in India a chance to gel with ones from around the world as well as giving them an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics.

Thus this time as well, many will trying to follow the feats of Ram Singh Yadav, who qualified for the London Olympics by clocking an impressive time in 2012.

Speaking of the foreigners, they have been keeping the Indians away from the title so far. Last year Uganda’s Jackson Kiprop roped the prize money and went home with the record time in the marathon’s 9-year history. The Indians will have a tough time matching up to these iron men and women but you never know what a proud Indian could do with the backing of the crowd.

What is it all about?

Plethora of emotions

All the things mentioned above might be an integral part of the Mumbai Marathon but the truth is it’s actually bigger than all that.

The race is going to showcase various dimensions and levels of human life as each individual will be running for an entirely different purpose. From ‘dabbawalahs’ to people who rule the country, expect everyone to be present at the place with a purpose of their own as mentioned earlier.

Some will run to be recognized as Indians, some will run to make their parents proud, some aiming the Olympics while others will do it just for fun; whatever it might be the culmination of all these emotions is going to set the streets of Mumbai on fire this Sunday so watch out for one of the biggest sporting spectacles of India.