The Kolkata Marathon (officially IDBI Federal Life Insurance Kolkata Full Marathon) is a marathon held annually in
Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
,
West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It was launched in 2008. The marathon is the largest in
Eastern India
East India is a region consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha
and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The states of Bihar and West Bengal lie on the Indo-Gangetic plain. Jharkhan ...
and the only full marathon held in Kolkata.
Organisation
The marathon is authorised by the
Athletics Federation of India (AFI). For 2016 edition IDBI Federal Life Insurance will be the title sponsors of the marathon. The marathon is managed by the HighLife Management.
The 2016 marathon will also be an official qualifier round for the marathon events in the
Rio Olympics 2016.
IDBI Federal Life Insurance is the title sponsor for 2017 edition of the race.
Indian cricket player
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...
is the Brand Ambassador for the 2017 marathon.
Participants
The race has five categories of competition. Along with the traditional full and half marathon distances, there is also a 10 km open run, 10 km corporate run and 5 km fun run for children. In the first edition of the marathon, nearly 6,000 runners participated; the number of runners increased to 15,000 in 2015.
Only Indian athletes are eligible for the prize money; according to organisers, the aims of the marathon are to provide a platform for Indian competitors and to promote athletics at the grass-root level in India.
In 2015, the prize money for the winner of the full marathon was , while 2nd and 3rd finishers were awarded and respectively.
Course
The marathon starts from the
Red Road in front of the Rangers club. The course then goes through the various landmarks in the city, including historic Park Street,
Maidan and the
Victoria area.
Past winners
Key:
References
{{Road running competitions in India
Marathons in India
Sport in Kolkata
2008 establishments in West Bengal
Recurring sporting events established in 2008