The 11th edition of Vadodara Marathon was held on Sunday, 7th January 2024, with Title Sponsor MG Motor India and Powered by Joy E-bike.
VM’s theme for this edition focused on the heartbeat of health and sustainability, with the slogan “Run the Green Mile”. This edition supported the Vadodara City Historic Landmark signage project, executed by Heritage Trust jointly with Vadodara Municipal Corporation, to create awareness about the rich heritage of the city. This edition was an extension to the Heritage Run, which was an integral part of the previous edition of Vadodara Marathon.
To further the cause of sustainability, VM identified select NGOs working in environment and sustainability space, whose projects were supported over the year by VM. Additionally, VM has prepared a toolkit to engage with 200+ schools to instill in the students the knowledge of the 17 SDGs and what the students can do at their individual level to be a responsible global citizen.
Vadodara Marathon set a new world record for maximum number of people doing “Tadasana Yoga” (yoga asana)- with World Book of Records (London) awarding the Certificate for organizing Tadasana Yoga involving more than 12,000 people at the same time for duration of 07 minutes on 7th January 2024.
The 11th edition had Timed Runs: Full Marathon, Half Marathon, Half Marathon Relay, and Quarter Marathon; and Fun Runs: Ami LifeSciences 5KM Swachhata Run and KYB Conmat 5KM NGO Pledge Run. Special marquee runs included INOX 1KM Divyang Paralympic Run with over 1500 Divyang participants and their supporters and families, and Torch of Seva Run had a group of 30 Pledgers, with their associates, who ran to raise awareness and funds for various NGOs and causes.
The Fun Runs was flagged off by Shri Harshbhai Sanghavi, Minister of State- Home & Industries, Transport, Youth, Sports & Culture, Govt of Gujarat, along with other dignitaries, religious leaders and VM Brand Ambassadors. The ambience was electric with a World Record being set for “Tadasana Yoga”.
As with all editions of the Marathon, the city bore a festive look, with stages for entertainment, water, energy drinks and refreshments available to all runners, medical stations and ambulances along the routes, signages and volunteers along with the local populace of Vadodara cheering the runners along the routes. The Finish Point had VM team members welcoming all timed runners with participation medals, plus medical stations for massage, physiotherapy and medical needs being addressed where needed. Water, refreshments and snacks were available. The selfie booths and DJ station saw participants celebrating their achievements, with music and dancing. Winners of all categories were felicitated by VM Board and sponsors, adding to the Marathon highlights.
With slogan ‘Run the Green Mile’ and ‘RegisTREEtion’, the 11th edition had a record 1,34,291 registrations – the highest number of registrations in a non-metro city for 2024. With its tradition of signature timed and fun runs, community service initiatives, and with sponsors, partners, corporates, organizations, NGOs, educational institutions, defence forces, and citizens from all walks of life, along with media (electronic, print and social media, radio and television) coming together to support, volunteer and participate in the Marathon, the 11th edition of MG Vadodara International Marathon was a resounding success, on Sunday 7th January 2024!
