They keep running and running…

It was almost destiny: Right when the “Polizeis­portverein Hohen­lo­hekreis”, a regional police sports organ­i­sa­tion, was searching in 1999 for a high-profile sponsor for its annual marathon, the desire to get involved in the field of running was growing at ebm-papst. This would be a way to strengthen our ties with the region – and natu­rally the endurance sport fits partic­u­larly well with the long-lasting prod­ucts of our company. The organ­i­sa­tion and the company simply joined forces and the “ebm-papst Marathon” was born. No marriage of conve­nience, but a genuine marriage for love – and the success story has continued ever since. ebm-papst assumes the primary spon­sor­ship role here in addi­tion to supporting many organ­i­sa­tional oper­a­tions. More­over, many trainees actively partic­i­pate at the event as hard-working helpers.

At last year’s event more than 3,500 runners reached the finish line and over 10,000 spec­ta­tors made sure they were there to take it all in. After all, it isn’t just the sport that attracts them, but also a unique supporting program where provi­sion is made for culi­nary as well as musical joys. When running through an exciting obstacle course, the sponsor run, even the young­sters have a chance to shine. They even do some­thing else good in the process, since for each loop around the 80-metre course ebm-papst makes a dona­tion for a char­i­table purpose in the region. Every year this adds up to over 5,000 EUR. A consid­er­able share of the visi­tors also comes from beyond the actual core region. “Each year we send 60,000 invi­ta­tional flyers to sporting clubs throughout all of Germany and to our inter­na­tional subsidiaries,” explains Arne Haag, Project Manager at ebm-papst. “There­fore we’ve already had colleagues from the USA and Japan at the event, who often bring along customers who are keen on sports.” In 2012 a total of 162 employees ran. For many it is a great oppor­tu­nity to meet and greet outside of the busi­ness envi­ron­ment for a change.

Amid all of the inter­na­tional char­acter, the regional ties are very impor­tant: Nearly all the helpers and addi­tional spon­sors come from the Hohen­lohe region. The Walden­burg sport school also gets involved as a partner and has used the marathon as a large training day for trainee phys­io­ther­a­pists. Profes­sional massages bring life back to many exhausted legs. Like-wise, regional clubs assume respon­si­bility for catering and other items in the supporting program. That is good team­work, which is sure to guar­antee full success again this year at the 18th occur­rence of the event.
More infor­ma­tion at www.ebmpapst-marathon.de