Asia’s richest marathon with a prize money of $3,77,000 will witness a total of 40,285 runners from different corners of the world. Standard Chartered is the title sponsor of the event.

 source

Ever since #StanChart sponsored the first Mumbai Marathon, I’ve been an ardent supporter . I have spent almost an entire Sunday morning clapping and whistling and cheering the marathoners. From a small group of amateur runners , it has grown to over 40, 000 runners in 2016. With bigger prize money and more international and professional athletes participating, it has become one of the events Mumbaikars look forward to.

I have often been irritated by the inconvenience of it all: being locked inside the building for the better part of the morning, the fruit peels and empty bottles discarded on the road and not to mention the noise. Yes, believe it or not, last night at the ungodly hour of 3 am I was woken up by the sounds of people yelling instructions, motorcycles whizzing past and the raucous horn of a big bus that was trying to make its way through a traffic jam!!!!

But Mumbaikars have been consistently supportive of the Mumbai Marathon despite all this. This is rather surprising for a people  known for their indifference to anything remotely athletic . I mean, what could be more important than lying in on a chilly Sunday morning or sipping hot coffee while browsing through the Sunday papers?

Well the enthusiasm of these people #Drumming support for the marathoners running this year proves that there are other things that matter. Like the Standard Chartered sponsored Mumbai Marathon.

Who know, one day many more may just put on their running shoes and flip from supporting to participating?

I’m sharing this on WriteTribe ProBlogger Challenge.