Bengaluru: Under flood lights and a chilly winter weather, Rotary Bangalore IT Corridor successfully hosted the 11th edition of Bengaluru Midnight Marathon at KTPO, Whitefield. The annual Marathon, conducted as the main fund-raiser event for RBITC’s various social service projects, witnessed over 10,000 participants from more than 18countries and 20states in India. The Full Marathon was flagged off at 12:00 midnight and RBL Half Marathon at 12:15 AM.
The Bengaluru Midnight Marathon, a member of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS-IAAF) saw a large number of enthusiastic participants spread across 6 races. The winner of the Full Marathon-Men was Ashenafi Boja Baysa from the ‘Open’ category from Ethiopia who finished the race in 2 hours 21 minutes & 11 sec and Santosh from India with a timing of 02 hours, 29 minutes and 28 sec from the none ‘open’ category, while in the Women category it was Rajkumari Patel from India with a timing of 04 hours, 07 minutes and 10 sec.
The winning team at the AIRBUS Corporate Relay was Team Capgemini with a timing of 03 hours, 29 min and 54 sec.
Drumbeats and loud cheering filled the air with enthralling energy and entertainment, as the marathon had performances from live bands – Rock Paper & Scissors, Pineapple Express and Raqeeb, food stalls and a flea market selling curio items from across the country for visitors and runners alike through the night.
The main highlight of the BMM 2017 was introduction of a motorcycle-based “First-Responder” Service. The service is introduced in pilot mode with two motor-cycles at the Bengaluru Midnight Marathon on Dec 16 2017 and will be piloted in the Outer Ring Road area for 90 days. The details of the plan, learnings and a scalable blueprint will subsequently be released to other Rotary Clubs and Hospitals to scale across the city.
The key partners associated with the BMM 2017 include Manipal ProLearn, Sakra World Hospital, RBL Bank, Airbus, JBL, Ola, Prestige, Akamai, Mfine, ID, Bisleri, Gatorade, HPCL and KTPO as the Venue Partner.
