On a new track

One moment Anil D Singh is a harried man in shorts running across the Marriott's lobby. The next, he's the immaculately-dressed managing director of Procam International, explaining how the running around will ensure the success of this weekend's Hutch Delhi Half Marathon, which the sports event management company has organised.

Singh should know: since he set up Procam in 1987, he's had 18 years of experience in sports management, organising 39 international events in diverse sports such as beach volleyball, rugby and water-skiing.

He also claims to have several firsts to his credit, including the first World Wrestling Federation tour of India in 1996 and the Mr Universe and the World Body-Building Championships in 2003.

But Procam came to centre court with the Mumbai Marathon in 2004."We were overwhelmed by the success of the Mumbai Marathon. It is now worth Rs 10 crore," says Singh. He has been camping in Delhi for the past two months, hoping to replicate that success here as well.

Like its Mumbai counterpart, the Delhi Marathon, too, promises to have an impressive line-up of celebrity participants like Jaya Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Nitu Singh, Tina Ambani, Kapil Dev and Rajyavardhan Rathore. But the Delhi run is being touted as one of the richest half-marathons in the world, with a total prize money of $150,000. The event is expected to attract at least 45 international long-distance runners from among the top 100.

That's because of the timing and length of the event. Typically, the top athletes participate in just two full marathons every year. A half-marathon (21 km), then, will not affect their energy levels. Besides, the timing (October) is well before the "season" begins in January.

So, come Sunday morning, Delhiites will run alongside athletes like Paul Kimugul (world No. 4 in 2005), Lawrence Kiprotisch (world No. 6 in 2005), Phaustin Baha (world No. 2 in 2004), Philip Rugut (world No. 3 in 2004) and Paul Kosgei (world No. 4 in 2004) apart from the usual clutch of Indian sports stars.

Organising world-class marathons is no easy task, points out Singh. The work begins months in advance, beginning with getting the necessary permission from the London-based Association of International Marathoners and Runners (which ratifies all marathons across the world).

Then the event needs to be conceptualised and efficiently marketed. Once the title sponsors and associate sponsors are in place, the prize money is decided and then begins the exhausting process of organising the actual event, from coordinating the list of athletes and other participants to arranging for their travel and stay.

The donkey's work aside, organising a marathon is also expensive; unofficial sources say the Delhi event may have cost as much as Rs 9 crore, and is expected to raise about Rs 1.5 crore for charity.

Singh dismisses any charges that at Rs 25 crore, Procam is Lilliputian compared to bigger players like IMG and WorldTel. "While most big names usually manage one event like tennis or cricket and concentrate their energies on conducting award functions and launches, we specialise in promoting a wide range of sports like soccer, rugby, squash, wrestling, beach volley ball or water skiing. Now that's what you call sports management," he defends.

Meanwhile, once the Delhi Half-Marathon finishes, Singh will begin running around for his next big event, the Mumbai Marathon in January 2006.