Some of the developments announced were the granting of ‘National Status' to the marathon by the Athletics Federation of India, a change in the dates and venue of the Get Active Event Expo, the addition of key partners, and revised start times for some of the races. Vijay Amritraj, global sporting icon, was also announced as the event ambassador for the 2012 edition.

Present on the occasion along with Vivek B Singh, Jt. MD, Procam International, was Debal Datta, Head Brand Management, India & South Asia, Standard Chartered, the title sponsor; and Yajuvindra Singh Bilkha, Head Corporate Affairs India, Tata Consultancy Services, the associate sponsor; and representatives from other partners of the event.

The event's elite ‘Gold Label' status, along with an enhanced prize purse of USD 340,000, an increase of USD 15,000, ensures that some of the biggest names in marathon running descend upon Mumbai. In the ninth year, the event was oversubscribed much before the last date. The Full Marathon has received 2,775 entries, while the Half Marathon has seen 13,946. The Senior Citizens' Run will have 1,251 participants, the Wheelchair Event 370, and the Dream Run 20,500.

"Besides being the single largest fund raising event for charity in India, in its 9th year, the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon has been given National Status by the Athletics Federation of India. This is indeed a very proud moment for us. The enthusiasm and participation of Mumbaikars has only been increasing year on year, and on Jan. 15, we look forward to the seeing the city rise and run once again," said Sumeet Singla, Regional Head, Corporate Affairs, India & South Asia, Standard Chartered.

With the intention of easing the pressures on amateur runners coming in to collect their running numbers, this year, the Event Expo will be held one week earlier, from Jan. 6 to 8 at the MMRDA Grounds at the Bandra Kurla Complex. The Expo will also be the venue for confirmed participants from Mumbai and its suburbs to collect their running numbers and goodie bags. Outstation runners will be able to collect the same on Jan. 14 at the World Trade Center, Cuffe Parade. The new dates will give participants a week to familiarize themselves with the instructions, security arrangements, traffic restrictions, road closures and other arrangements that will come into force for Race Day.

An event on the scale of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon would not be possible without the critical contributions from the partners to the event. This year, four new partners have come into the fold - Timex has come onboard as the official timing partner, BMW is the official car. Gatorade is the official sports nutrition partner, and Star Plus is the channel partner. Star Plus will provide a live telecast of the event to more than 300 million people, telecast in HD for the first time on Indian television.

This year again, there will be a separate start for the half marathon, the event starting at Bandra and finishing at CST, to avoid convergence of the runners in the two categories and give the full marathon participants a clear route from start to finish. The Half Marathon will begin at 6.15 AM from Bandra Reclamation and finish at CST, while the Full Marathon will begin at 7.25 AM at CST and finish at CST. The Wheelchair event begins at 7.45 AM from CST and finishes near Gate No. 3 of Azad Maidan, as does the Senior Citizens Run, which begins at CST at 8.00 AM, and the Dream Run which begins at 9.00 AM from CST. The amateur Marathon runners, who will be allowed an early start of 5.40 AM from CST, will be racing for prize money for the first time in nine years.

As event ambassador, Vijay Amritraj will be in Mumbai from Jan. 12 to promote the event, meet with the sponsors and partners, the elite athletes, encourage the amateur athletes and spread the message about the event and the running movement in the country. Amritraj's association with the event is in line with Procam International's efforts to bring to India some the world's most accomplished sportsmen to raise the profile of the sport of distance running. Some of the preceding event ambassadors include Michael Johnson, Mike Powell, Cathy Freeman and Kapil Dev.

As an environmentally conscious event, Procam International is committed to working towards a greener marathon and achieving a carbon neutral marathon in the next few years, with assistance from NextGen from Bangalore. Some of the green initiatives undertaken by Procam International are the Complete Waste Management Program, which ensures that all waste generated is collected, segregated and sent to recycling units; the Green Kiosk, where at each day of the expo, an eco-friendly company displays its unique green products; and an online advisory, where Dr. Hulk, the green face of SCMM is available online to help runners with their green queries.