If celebrities, reputed athletes and a cheering crowd are not motivation enough for those participating in this year's Mumbai Marathon, then there is an added incentive of increase in prize-money by US $20,000 for the event.
The January 21 run, sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank, has its prize-money pool upped to US $2,30,000 and organisers are hoping that the course record, which has been broken for the past three years, will be broken this year too.
The record, which stands at 2 hours, 12 minutes and three seconds will be tested, by international as well as national athletes like Tanzania's Samson Ramadhani, Ethiopia's Gashaw Malese, Kenyans Patrick Chumba, Stanley Leleito and Robert Cheruyiot and India's Ram Yadav, Satya Prakash and Nathu Ram.
In the women's run, the trophy will be contested by Kenya's former world record holder Tegla Loroupe, Tanzania's Banuella Mrashani, Ethiopia's Leila Chumba and India's Leelamma Alphonso, Satyabhama, Reena Das and Sangini Devi.
Double Olympic gold medallist at the Athens Games Kelly Holmes, cricket legend Aravinda DeSilva and actor Rahul Bose are brand ambassadors for the event.
The race, which will be flagged off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal in south Mumbai, will start with the half marathon (21 km) at 6:45 am, followed by the Marathon (42 km), after which events like the Wheelchair event, Senior Citizens Run and Dream Run (7 km) will be flagged off.
The Mumbai Marathon is also part of the Greatest Race on Earth competition for which 300 participants will contest in four marathons across Asia for a combined prize pool of US $1.5 million.