TOKYOMARATHON WINS 2014 AIMS SOCIAL AWARD
THE world running organisation the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) is delighted to declare the Tokyo Marathon as the 2014 winner 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 Japanese race during the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Awards Gala, to be held in Athens, Greece on Friday 7 November.
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.
Since 2011, under the slogan ‘The Day We Unite’, the Tokyo Marathon has been organising charity activities based on the Japanese concept of “TSUNAGU” (unite) in an effort to bring people together from runners, volunteers and spectators.
Those individuals who donate ¥100,000 ($916) or more and wish to run the race can participate in the marathon as charity runners. Money raised is then donated to the 13 chosen recipient programs of the Tokyo Marathon Charity “TSUNAGU”. Charity runners are encouraged to ‘Run with Heart’ by asking their friends and family to get involved in fundraising. From the 2013 event, the Tokyo Marathon has been accepting corporate applications.
In 2014, the TSUNAGU program raised over ¥265 million ($2.42m) for the chosen recipient charities, a record amount. This is an increase of about ¥40 million from the amount raised in 2013 of over ¥225 million ($2.06m).
The 13 recipient programs of the Tokyo Marathon 2015 Charity “TSUNAGU” are:
- Fostering the potential of athletes and promoting sports for the future
- Installing shelters to save the lives of refugees forced to leave their homes due to conflicts
- Providing and promoting sports activities for intellectually disabled people
- Inviting children dealing with intractable diseases and their parents to the dream campsite equipped with medical care facilities.
- Promoting and popularizing sports for people in Tokyo
- Afforestation that leads to less pollen ; thinning old cedar forests and planting cedar varieties that emit less pollen to reduce overall pollen counts
- Providing training and increasing the availability of first-aid and emergency medical techniques.
- Management and the construction of Ronald McDonald House residential facilities for children with intractable diseases and their families
- Popularising and promoting sports for the handicapped
- Improving the Family House facilities
- Rebuilding schools where Pakistani girls can learn in safety
- Restoring forests at the water source to protect our water for the future
- Rebuilding the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake
Paco Borao, President of AIMS comments: “I am very happy to see the excellent work done by the Tokyo Marathon recognised with the AIMS Social Award. The work they have done towards the United Nations Millennium Development Goals has been outstanding. I am very impressed with the ethos of unity in their TSUNAGU campaign as it fits so well with the ethos of our sport. Also, the amount of money they have been able to raise for charitable causes has been very impressive."
Tadaaki Hayano, Race Director of the Toyko Marathon comments: “It is a great honour for the Tokyo Marathon to be recognised with the AIMS Social Award. We are very proud of our TSUNAGU program under the slogan ‘The Day We Unite’ as it recognises not only the 36,000 runners who take part in the Tokyo Marathon but the 10,000 volunteers and 1.6 million people who cheer the runners on. We are also delighted that we continue to break our record for money raised through the TSUNAGU program for our chosen charity recipients. We would like to thank AIMS and their sponsors for recognising us with this award."
About the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Award Gala
The purpose of the BMR Award Gala is to:
I. 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 (370+ 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 7 November 2014.
About AIMS
The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) is a member based organisation and since being established in 1982 has grown to a membership of more than 370 of the world’s leading distance races, from over 100 countries and territories. AIMS Members come from every continent on the planet and include the Athens Marathon, the Authentic formed on the legend of Pheidippides, the Greek soldier-runner who ran from the town of Marathon to Athens in 490 BC to announce the Persians had been defeated in the ‘Battle of Marathon’. Other AIMS members include many of the world’s greatest distance races in history such as the Berlin, Boston and Chicago Marathons.
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: aimsworldrunning.org
* 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