Over 800 runners will race at the first running competition of the year, Gerar Half Marathon, an event powered by Telekom Romania and presented by Telekom Sport. Organized under the slogan "We Run As One", the ninth edition of the competition takes place on Saturday, January 26th, 2019, on the Politehnica University of Bucharest campus’. The Gerar Half Marathon aims to encourage outdoor running, even in winter conditions and low temperatures.
The event's specificity is the half marathon track, addressed to teams comprised of three runners that run all 21 kilometers together. This format is one of a kind in the Romanian road running events. The competition will start at 4:00 PM, promoting running as a social event, another way of going out in town with friends on Saturday night.
"Endurance sport requires months or even years of intense preparation, both physical and mental. That is why it is important to offer to outdoor activities lovers unique sports events that come with a different approach and which contribute to unique personal experiences, as a reward for their effort and passion. The Gerar Half Marathon is a competition that must be run by sports enthusiasts at least once in a lifetime", stated Ruxandra Vodă, Corporate Communications Director, Telekom Romania.
The novelty of this year's edition of Gerar Half Marathon is the setting up of a scholarship for young people aged between 10 - 17 years old, with promising sports results. The scholarship fund will consist of donations made by participants, donations made by competitors during the enrollment process, profit made from the sale of personalized products to competitors or supporters and sponsorships offered by organizers and partners. The Gerar Scholarship will be awarded annually to a young sportsman aged between 10 - 17 years old.
In order to apply for a scholarship, those interested must have been practicing, consistently and with promising results, in the last 2 years, one of the disciplines: athletics, mountain running, triathlon, duathlon. Applications will be submitted between 1 to 10 February 2019. More details are available on the event page.
"Sports events have often been used as a fundraising platform for various social causes. In 2019, we want that together with the runners of the Gerar Half Marathon to use this engine to support a young sportswoman by setting up a scholarship. We hope that this initiative will be the beginning of a beautiful tradition to help as many as possible athletes", stated Gabriel Solomon, President of People for Sport Romania.
A less known thing about sports events is that they can have an important impact on the environment, both by the amount of resources consumed and impressive number of waste produced. For this reason, from 2016, the focus in the organizational process of the competition is on the responsibility towards the environment and community. In this respect, the organizers and promoters of the event have adopted a sustainable strategy: reducing the amount of paper used within the competition by adopting the electronic registration, electronic validation of declarations of attendance and reusable packaging for the competition kit.
Gerar Half Marathon is an event organized by the Associations Ro Club Maraton and People for Sport Romania, together with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Politehnica University of Bucharest, in partnership with Politehnica University of Bucharest and Bucharest Running Club Association.
