The TCS Clark Animo International Marathon, a major international fitness event, is set to hold its 11th race on March 8 at Clark Global City.
Organized annually by the De La Salle Alumni Association Pampanga chapter along with Clark Global City, the marathon will have its courses certified by the International Association of Athletic Federations and the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races.
“Because we aim to give the best race experience to the participants, all races are IAAF-AIMS Certified Courses,” race director Jumbo Tayag affirms. “This guarantees that participants will run the correct distance, with a valid recorded time recognized internationally for qualifying and rankings purposes.”
The marathon will be sponsored by leading technology company Tata Consultancy Services for the fifth year in a row. TCS has sponsored other prestigious global running events such as the TCS New York City Marathon, TCS Amsterdam Marathon, and Tata Mumbai Marathon. In light of this, race organizers expect the TCS Clark Animo International Marathon 2020 to be recognized as an essential sports tourism destination for runners all over the world.
To help rev up interest in the event, TCS recently launched the Clark Animo 2020 app for all prospective racers to use. In its current phase, the app contains event details of the forthcoming race, information about the race course, and even results of past races. Its upcoming second phase will have a “virtual run” feature that can help racers gauge how they will perform in the marathon. It will have a selfie feature with a custom digital frame, as well.
When asked what drove the TCS to support the Clark Animo International Marathon, TCS Philippines country head Shiju Varghese cited how the marathon grew from a contingent of 600 runners of De La Salle alumni to over 8,000 runners in 2019, as well as the DLSAA-P’s charitable pursuits.
“This is beyond simply running,” said Varghese. “This is about serving the community.”
Past iterations of the TCS Clark Animo International Marathon have helped raise funds for the De La Salle Botanical Gardens in support of their environment-friendly efforts. The earnings from this year’s marathon will fund tree-planting projects and donations in aid of the victims of the recent Taal Volcano eruption, as well as subsidize scholarship programs for future teachers in honor of St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, patron saint of teachers.
TCS Clark Animo International Marathon 2020 is made possible by Tata Consultancy Services, Clark Global City, Clark Development Corporation, CONVERGE, New Balance, SMART, Nepo Center, Pocari Sweat, Cherifer Premium, CMCS Inc, Kenny Rogers, and Genesis Transport. Its other sponsors include Garmin, Alpha Aviation, Bale Capampangan, Inbox, Cenmidis, Ederm Centers, Public Figure Photography, Royce Hotel and Clark Water, with CLTV36 and UFM 105.5 as media partners.
Registration for the event will be held from Feb. 14 to 16 at Bonifacio Global City.