Illustration: Shyam G Menon

In what is perhaps a sign of things to come in the fast evolving running scenario in India, one of the leading event organizers therein – NEB Sports, has formally announced a National Marathon Circuit (NMC) composed of five events it organizes.

These running events are spread across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Delhi. If a runner signs up for NMC, he / she gets to run half or full marathons at all these locations. The distance is slightly different at Hyderabad where the longer races have been kept at 25 km and 50 km. “ The Hyderabad event is a new one for NEB. We tweaked the distance for the longer races to slightly more than the regular half and full marathon distances, so that people wishing for such a stretch get a chance,’’ Sunil Shetty, veteran ultra-runner and a senior member of the NEB team, said. The NMC will open with the Mumbai event in August 2017, followed by Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Delhi (the last two events in 2018).

NEB Sports was founded by Nagaraj Adiga, who is also its chairman.

According to Sunil, the concept of NMC was floated last year. It was given shape well into the second half of 2016. By then, the running season was already underway. Consequently it could be tried out only in a limited fashion. As per NEB’s 2016 intimation on the subject, four of their marathon events featured in that list – Bengaluru, Goa, Kolkata and Delhi. Mumbai missed the bus. The running season of 2017-2018 marks NMC’s formal announcement as a product from NEB with whole season ahead. This time, Mumbai is included as is Hyderabad. Goa does not feature on the list because NEB is not the organizer for the Goa River Marathon, this year. At three locations – Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai – IDBI Federal Life Insurance is the lead sponsor for the NEB-organized race. The title sponsor at Bengaluru is Shriram Properties, while (as of May 29, 2017) the search was on for a title sponsor at Hyderabad.

Beyond unique medal, customized T-shirt and certificate, a concrete incentive for runners to sign up for NMC was yet to be in place. Asked if a runner signing up for all five races under the new circuit would be able to do so at a cost that is cheaper than if he / she were to sign up for each separately, Sunil said that as yet, the organizers are unable to make that happen. What NEB can do for incentive at present, is help those signing up in finding hotel accommodation etc. Other details – like whether a single bib number can be used across races – would also need to be studied.

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.)