Delhi Half Marathon 2009, Why So Low Key?

Just about 2 weeks to go for the 5th Airtel Delhi Half Marathon now, so its basically countdown time. This years event seems to be a little low key compared to the years gone by. I was thinking about this for the last few days and finally decided to write something about this. There are indications everywhere about this, low key registrations, low key media promotion. Here’s why I think the event has gone so low profile this year.

Registrations, too little too late?

The registrations for the event started on August 28th. That is just two months to the actual event date of Nov 1st. Simply not enough time to garner all the attention, and give enough time for the common folks to prepare well for the half marathon. A run, whose primary event is the half marathon, should at least allow for the time needed to prepare for the run before starting the registrations, which for a half marathon surely goes beyond 2 months as per most of the half marathon training programs. Delhi Half Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, and is expected to meet the highest standards of organization, and this is definitely not it.

The registrations were expected to close by Oct 4th, or earlier if the registrations reached the target total count of 28,000. The result, it was only 18,000 registrations as Oct 4th came and went by, and the organizers were forced to keep registrations open, which till date remain open, not a good sign. In fact, the scrolling link on the website reads “Registrations going on in full swing”!

A comparison in contrast is the Mumbai Marathon. Happening in 2010 on Jan 17th, the registrations for the event started more than 6 months in advance, and were to be closed within a month. Result, registrations seats ran out within 3 weeks, with the key events of Marathon and Half Marathon gone within a couple of weeks. Incidentally, Mumbai marathon has a higher quota for half marathons, 12,000 compared to the Delhi target of 11,000, unlikely to be met.

Low key Media Promotion

Past years have seen some great promotion of this event in the media, with newspapers, FM channels, TV running promotional stuff over long periods. Remember how popular the punchline from years past was “Ab Dilli Daudegi“. That kind of atmosphere totally seems to be missing. Here’s a repeat of that crazy bit:

“Gurgaon daudega. Moti Bagh daudega. Lalaji daudenge. Yeh bijli bhi daudegi. South Block daudega. North Campus daudega. Pammiji daudengi. Unki close neighbour Loveleen bhi daudengi. Doctor Saab daudenge. Lajjoji bhi daudengi. Sheila, Priya aur Supriya daudegi (the clip shows the old Sheila theatre, well known to Delhiites). Tommy daudega. Asiad Appu bhi daudega (the clip shows an elephant). Rickshaw stand daudega. Rickshawala bhi daudega. Bus stop daudega (the clip shows a deserted bus stop with a lone man waiting). Karol Bagh daudega. India Gate daudega. Inspector Happy daudega. Kitab Ghar daudega. CP daudega. Dabbu Junior daudega. Paharganj daudega. Sharmaji daudenge. Yeh ped daudega. Pragati Maidan daudega. Jasveer, Jolly aur family daudegi. Aap daudenge. Main daudoonga. Kyonki ab Dilli daudegi.”

The weekend ads in the Delhi times for registration details that turned up without a miss are not so common anymore. Occasionally, they do turn up, just about. Similarly, the sports page articles on the event are more infrequent. It really seems that the focus of the organizers is on different things, and this no is no longer the pampered baby. Television is no different, and I can hardly recollect seeing any promotional ad, compared to past years. What happened, Procam?

Reebok Training – From Paid to Free

Organizers had in the past years tied up with Reebok for developing a training program for the Delhi Half Marathon. It was a paid training program, probably 3-4 times a week at some great running locations in Delhi NCR provided by qualified trainers from Reebok. This year, the program is there but has gone free. I do not think this is charity of some kind from Reebok or a sudden change in priorities, but probably something which these guys have been forced to do due to the low scale. And free things most of the time mean low quality. Also, a training program starting like a month before the event cannot be really serious, can it be?

Lack of attention to Event Website

Nothing can exemplify the low key aspect than some real proof, right? Here we go. Less than a fortnight to go for the event, and the website is still missing content. Check the FAQ’s section, an area which should probably be set up the first. All it shows is “Coming soon…”. When? After the event I guess. Check out the “Event Venue” under “Race Day Information”, that’s coming soon too. And more such instances.

Title sponsor focussed on Champions league?

Airtel, the title sponsor for the event from last year did a lot of promotion in 2008 for their new found association with the event. Well, this year they too seem to have gone cold. Probably they are onto the so called bigger and more money minting areas, like the Airtel Champions League? Put the money where the returns are, or the bigger returns are. Not that the Champions League did too great this year, but still, it does get much more viewer ship hours and opportunity for advertising. So, Airtel seems to have got their priorities right, at least for what makes a better business sense for them.

So, what do you think about this whole thing? In spite of everything, I am still very excited about taking part in this event (it will be my 5th Delhi Half Marathon), it has been wonderful over the years and I think the organizers will still be able to organize it well, not great, but just about well.