The world running organisation the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) is delighted to announce the Munich Marathon as the 2016 recipient of the AIMS Social Award.
The award, which highlights races working towards achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals*, will be presented to the successful German race during the fourth annual AIMS Best Marathon Runner’ (BMR) Awards Dinner Reception to be held in the birth place of the Marathon in Athens, Greece on 11 November 2016.
The eight Millennium Development Goals include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, combatting disease, decreasing child mortality, promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and ensuring environmental stability.
Starting in 2015, the Munich Marathon have been working on a project called ‘Laufend integrieren’, which roughly translates as ‘constantly integrate’. With Germany taking in large numbers of refugees from the recent humanitarian crisis, the organisers of the Munich Marathon decided to use their event and the sport of running to help refugees integrate into German culture.
Through working with the social authority of the City of Munich, several running groups were set up for both Munich runners and refugees. These groups met once a week from August to October in the build up to the Munich Marathon with 32 refugees participating in the race.
In addition, over 100 refugees were engaged around the race weekend preparing the race packages, handing them out and stewarding the route. Finally, bracelets branded with ‘Laufend integrieren’ were sold at the sports expo. The money raised from the bracelets in addition to donations from sponsors meant the Munich Marathon donated €30,000 to the social authority for Munich to distribute as they see fit.
The Munich Marathon plans to continue these efforts throughout the year towards the next race in 2017.
Paco Borao, President of AIMS comments: “I am delighted to see the excellent work done by the Munich Marathon recognised with this award. I feel this is a great example of how running events can help tackle the great challenges of our time, in this case the humanitarian challenge of millions of refugees seeking safety within Europe.”
Gernot Weigl, Race Director of the Munich Marathon comments: “We would like to thank AIMS, their sponsors and members for recognising us with the AIMS Social Award. We are delighted at the success of our ‘Laufend integrieren’ project so far and look forward to continuing the success in years to come. The response from our new friends from abroad and the local people has been moving to see. This project has hopefully helped people understand the massive social challenges that many of the people arriving in Germany have had to face as they seek a new, safer life. We are looking forward to visiting the home of the Marathon in Athens, Greece to receive the award.”
About the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Awards Dinner
The purpose of the BMR Awards Dinner is to:
- Announce and honour the best male and female Marathon runners of the year through the AIMS BEST MARATHON RUNNER (BMR) Award. The BMR Award replaces the AIMS World Athlete of the Year Award.
II. Recognise and honour exceptional Marathon figureheads and personalities for their contribution to the development of the Marathon movement.
III. Publicise and promote the best practice and initiatives of AIMS members (410+ race organisers) through the establishment of special environmental and social awards.
IV. Enhance the role, programs and services of AIMS.
The event will be staged in Athens, Greece on Friday 11 November 2016.
Previous Winners of the AIMS Social Award
2013 Great Ethiopian Run, Ethiopia
2014 Tokyo Marathon, Japan
2015 Maratón Internacional Lala, Mexico
About AIMS
AIMS is a member based organisation and since being established in 1982 has grown to a membership of more than 410 of the world’s leading distance races, from over 110 countries and territories. AIMS Members come from every continent on the planet. The three key objectives of AIMS are:
- To foster and promote distance running throughout the world
- To work with the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) on all matters relating to international road races.
- To exchange information, knowledge and expertise among members of the association
For further information on AIMS please visit: http://ift.tt/2eRQafQ
About the 21st World Congress of AIMS – 10-12 November – Athens, Greece
The 21st World Congress of AIMS is being hosted by the ‘Athens Marathon, the Authentic’ at the Crowne Plaza Athens City Centre Hotel between November 10 – 12. The weekend will include many events including the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Awards, the Athens Marathon Expo, the Athens Marathon Opening Ceremonies & Marathon Flame Lighting inside the Marathon Tomb. The weekend finishes with the 34th edition of the ‘Athens Marathon. The Authentic’ on Sunday 13 November. The Congress will also mark the 120th anniversary of the Olympic Marathon race, held for the first time at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
The Congress is being co-organised by the ‘Athens Marathon, the Authentic’ and the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS), Greece’s governing body for athletics.
The Congress will feature expert speakers including Dr Kevin Dutton, a research psychologist at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford will speak on the subject of “why do people cheat?”, a topical subject in world sport at this time. Another speaker at the Congress is British former middle distance runner Diane Modahl, who was falsely accused of a doping offence in 1994. Diane will speak about her fight to clear her name which ultimately cost her two years of her career. Diane is a three-time medallist at the Commonwealth Games.
The Congress will also give race organisers the chance to promote their races to hundreds of international runners and visitors. AIMS Members can attend the Congress for free (accommodation charges apply), while non-Members can attend for a Congress Registration Fee of €270 in addition to accommodation charges. As part of this Congress Registration Fee, non-Members will receive one year’s Associate Membership to AIMS (subject to meeting qualifying criteria).
To register for the Athens Marathon race, Congress participants should visit the official Congress website (http://ift.tt/2eiv7qw) where all information including how to participate in the race is detailed.
To apply for AIMS membership today click here. To find out more about AIMS and the benefits of being part of our organisation, please visit our website.
* The United Nations Millennium Development Goals
The eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals are:
- Goal One: Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
- Goal Two: Achieving universal primary education
- Goal Three: Promoting gender equality and empowering women
- Goal Four: Reducing child mortality
- Goal Five: Improving maternal health
- Goal Six: Combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Goal Seven: Ensuring environmental sustainability
- Goal Eight: Developing a global partnership for development
For further information, please contact:
| Peter McLean, Director of Public Relations Association of International Marathons & Distance Races C/o PMPR Excellence Ltd, Windsor House, 15 Kirklee Terrace, Kelvinside, Glasgow, Scotland, G12 0TJ Tel: 00-44-(0)-141-357-2516 Mobile:00-44-(0)-774-037-1909 Email: peter@prexcellence.com |
