India’s marathon circuit is witnessing a renewed surge of brand interest, as advertisers increasingly turn to endurance sports to build long-term engagement, purpose-led narratives and on-ground visibility beyond conventional sponsorship formats.
From title sponsorships and hydration partnerships to data-driven runner engagement and community-building initiatives, brands are no longer viewing marathons merely as sporting events. Instead, they are being positioned as scalable platforms for wellness, sustainability and experiential marketing.
Industry observers note that post-pandemic consumer behaviour has accelerated interest in fitness, mental well-being and outdoor participation, making marathons an attractive touchpoint for brands seeking associations with discipline, perseverance and healthy living. This has also broadened the sponsor mix beyond traditional BFSI and sportswear players to include technology firms, FMCG brands, healthcare companies and digital-first platforms.
According to Statista, the global sports sponsorship and in-venue advertising industry was valued at $52 billion in 2025, accounting for 12% of total global sports market revenue. Marathons in India are increasingly being positioned as measurable brand platforms rather than one-day sponsorships. The Tata Mumbai Marathon alone has delivered an estimated ₹530 crore in total impact, including ₹476.97 crore in health and economic benefits and ₹53.62 crore in social impact.
Also read: How brands integrated themselves into Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026
Anchor brands set the tone
For Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), marathons have emerged as a cornerstone of its global sports sponsorship strategy. Michelle Taylor, Head of Sports Sponsorships, TCS said, “Giving back to the community, health and wellness, and supporting green initiatives are central to who we are, and the marathon platform aligns very strongly with that.”
Beyond external engagement, TCS also uses marathons to promote movement and well-being among employees, reinforcing its long-term brand promise of being “with you for the long run”.
In India, the company has built deep associations, completing 19 years with the Tata Mumbai Marathon and nine years as its title sponsor, alongside its long-standing involvement with the TCS World 10K Bengaluru. Rather than operating as a logo-led sponsor, TCS works closely with race organisers to enhance the overall experience through technology, including personalised race features and digital platforms that serve runners, spectators and organisers.
Marathons have become a high-impact brand platform for TCS, delivering both community and business outcomes at scale. According to Brand Finance’s Marathons 50 2025 report, TCS-sponsored races generated $2.25 billion in local economic impact and raised $279 million for charity in 2024, nearly half of the total impact of the world’s top 50 marathons. The platform has also delivered stronger brand metrics, with 46% familiarity and 67% consideration among marathon runners, compared to 16% and 27% among non-runners. With 14 sponsored marathons across 11 countries, including five Abbott World Marathon Majors, TCS’s long-term investment highlights why endurance events are increasingly attractive to brands seeking scale, purpose-led engagement and access to senior decision-makers, with 14% of marathon runners globally occupying C-suite roles.
Taylor added, “We invest quite heavily in sports sponsorships, and the marathon platform is the anchor of that investment. It accounts for a significant portion of our overall sponsorship budget.”
This shift towards deeper engagement is also evident among sportswear brands. Saurabh Sharma, Director – Marketing at ASICS India, said marathons are a natural fit as running in India has evolved into a year-round lifestyle.
Runners now train consistently, engage with communities and demand products that support performance and recovery across the entire cycle. Marathons, he said, allow the brand to engage across training, race day and recovery, creating an end-to-end presence that is difficult to replicate through digital-only platforms.
ASICS has stepped up its focus on running-led platforms over the last two to three years, partnering major events such as the New Delhi Marathon, TCS World 10K Bengaluru and the NMDC Hyderabad Marathon. The brand views marquee properties like the Tata Mumbai Marathon as year-long platforms rather than race-day sponsorships, with investments planned accordingly.
“We invest heavily in product storytelling that begins months before race day. When we launch a performance running shoe, the narrative builds over weeks through our retail channels, digital content, and community engagement,” added Sharma.
According to him, the year-round ASICS Running Club, active across multiple cities, reflects the brand’s investment in infrastructure, coaching and services such as FOOT ID gait analysis. As India’s running ecosystem matures, this approach has scaled steadily and become a more strategic part of ASICS’ overall marketing mix.
B2B brands enter the race
Beyond consumer-facing brands, marathons are also drawing increased interest from industrial and B2B players. Marathons such as the SKF Goa River Marathon align with SKF India Industrial’s focus on precision, consistency and performance. While digital and B2B platforms drive visibility, the brand sees endurance events as offering a more direct connection with participants who embody resilience and progress. Its long-term association with the event, the company said, has helped build trust within the running community, reflected in the 15th edition held in December 2025, which saw participation from over 6,000 runners.
Nrithika Sridharan, Director – Strategy and Marketing, SKF India Industrial Ltd. & Southeast Asia (ISEA) and Middle East highlighted, “Our investment in community engagement driven events like SKF Goa River marathon events has grown steadily over the past few years, driven by the strong engagement reflecting the growing number of participations and proven brand impact these platforms deliver. This reflects a broader trend: the running movement in India, now with millions of registered runners; creating opportunities for authentic, high-touch brand experiences.”
Endurance as a long-term consumer play
Nutrition brand Fast&Up views marathons and endurance formats as part of a long-term shift in fitness behaviour rather than a passing trend, with participation expanding across age groups and newer formats such as HYROX gaining traction.
Unlike one-off activations, endurance communities enable sustained engagement and loyalty. This belief underpins the brand’s partnership with Procam International across properties including the Tata Mumbai Marathon, Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, TCS World 10K Bengaluru and the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, which together account for a significant share of its annual running marketing budget.
“In addition to these major associations, we continuously, almost regularly, allocate resources to a variety of running events across the country. Regarding how this has changed over the last two to three years, the absolute investment has grown somewhat but stayed largely consistent,” explained Vijayaraghavan Venugopal, Co-Founder Fast&Up India. He added that however, the portion allotted to marathons and running events has probably decreased as a part of the company's overall marketing budgets during this time, which is more indicative of a wider scale-up than a decrease in commitment.
What brands are paying for
Industry experts say this evolution reflects a fundamental shift in how brands evaluate marathon sponsorships. Jyoti Chugh Bhatia, Group Director at Gozoop Creative, said marathons have moved from being one-off sponsorship moments to long-term platforms for credibility, purpose and community-building.
BFSI and technology brands are currently leading spends, driven by the trust and emotional engagement marathons offer at scale. FMCG and fitness brands continue to invest steadily, while startups are entering more selectively with a sharper focus on returns.
According to her, brand spends vary widely depending on the depth of involvement, ranging from low-lakh on-ground or experiential partnerships to multi-crore investments for associate or category sponsorships. “Title sponsorships for big city marathons sit right at the top and can go into several tens of crores. What’s interesting is that brands are no longer looking at these as one-off spends, many are committing for multiple years to get more value out of the association.”
Procam International, which promotes large-scale mass-participation running events including the Tata Mumbai Marathon, Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, TCS World 10K Bengaluru and the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, has seen this shift play out first-hand.
Neha Parab Kandalgaonkar, Vice President – Corporate Communications, Procam International, said the Tata Mumbai Marathon has evolved beyond a largely B2C-led platform, with growing interest from B2B brands seeking purpose-driven associations around sustainability, philanthropy and long-term impact.
She said sponsorships are increasingly viewed as long-term partnerships rather than one-season transactions, allowing brands to engage with runners across training, pre-race activations, race day and post-event initiatives.
“While spends have certainly grown, more importantly, intent has become much clearer. Brands are investing in storytelling, community engagement, CSR integration, employee engagement, and programs that extend both on-ground and digitally,” she said, and added that interestingly, while traditional media spends may have reduced, brands are spending more on leveraging their sponsorships.
Brand presence
As marathon sponsorships mature, brand presence is increasingly being defined by relevance and experience rather than sheer visibility. According to Jyoti Chugh Bhatia, brands are moving beyond logo-led placements to focus on runner-centric engagement, with greater emphasis on consent-led data capture, content creation at expos and finish lines, and practical touchpoints such as recovery and wellness zones.
She said, “Tech is playing a bigger role too, from live tracking to personalised race insights. And increasingly, brands are getting involved well before race day, using training programs or cause-led initiatives to stay relevant even after the medal is handed out.”
This evolution is clearly visible at the Tata Mumbai Marathon. Neha Parab Kandalgaonkar said the strongest brand impressions at the event are created on the road rather than through hoardings. She pointed to examples such as ASICS supporting emerging Indian distance runners and launching marathon-linked merchandise, and Bisleri featuring Indian distance athletes, including Man Singh, on bottle labels, as indicators of how brand participation has shifted from presence to purpose-led involvement.
Brands echo this thinking. SKF India said it prioritises long-term partnerships over one-off sponsorships, focusing on authentic, purpose-driven engagement that builds trust and lasting connections beyond visibility. ASICS, meanwhile, said increased brand presence at marathons reflects the growing relevance of running rather than clutter, with differentiation coming from intent-led, runner-first participation across training, race day and recovery.
Fast&Up also does not view marathons as overly cluttered, citing its core, functional role as an energy, electrolyte and hydration partner. The brand said its emphasis on product usage, on-ground engagement and targeted activations helps drive relevance and recall beyond logo visibility, even in crowded sponsorship environments.
As India’s running ecosystem continues to mature, marathons are evolving from sponsorship properties into long-term brand platforms rooted in purpose, community and sustained engagement. For marketers, the shift signals a move away from visibility-led spends towards deeper, intent-driven participation that mirrors how consumers now experience sport and wellness.