From London to New York, why TCS is running along with marathons

At the London Marathon, on Sunday (April 26), Kenyan athlete Sabastian Sawe ran his way into history books by becoming the first athlete to run a sub-two-hour marathon.

There was also the heartfelt story of 18-year-old Mike Angland, who ran the London marathon to raise money for the air ambulance team that saved his life just 18 months ago.

For Sawe and the thousands who completed the marathon on Sunday, the odds are very high that they may have seen the word ‘TCS’ at the finish line. That’s because the India-based B2B tech services company is a major sponsor of the run. Not just that, TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) is the sponsor for 14 of the world’s most elite marathons across the world.

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But why is it that a tech company chooses to sponsor some of the most important and well-known runs in the world? Here’s what we found out.

TCS is off to the races

The association between TCS and marathons dates back to 2008, when the B2B tech company became the associate sponsor of the Mumbai Marathon.

Since then, TCS has gone on to sponsor other marathons across the world. In 2011, it became the title sponsor of the Amsterdam Marathon. Three years later, in 2014, it became the title sponsor of the prestigious New York Marathon. In fact, the tech company has extended its contract until 2029.

TCS has a long-running association with marathons. In 2011, it became the title sponsor of the Amsterdam Marathon. Three years later, in 2014, it became the title sponsor of the prestigious New York Marathon. Today, the company sponsors 14 marathons across the globe. File image/AFP

It became the title sponsor of the equally big London Marathon in 2022 and the Sydney Marathon in 2024.

Apart from these, TCS also sponsors other marathons, such as the ones in Boston, Chicago, and the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

TCS’s love affair with marathons is so strong that it has been reported that the tech company spends $40 million on the races annually, with news reports in 2021 stating that the firm has plans to spend a whopping $320 million for the next eight years.

Track-ing marathons

TCS doesn’t just sponsor marathons across the globe — you won’t just see TCS branding at these races. Instead, TCS powers them.

The tech company builds the official race app for the New York City marathon, through which one can find a fellow runner on the course. In fact, the New York City marathon app has grown more sophisticated over the years.

Through this, TCS gets an opportunity to show off its tech prowess. The messaging is simple: if we can manage 50,000 runners in real time, your digital transformation is safe with us.

Apart from the apps, the marathons also offer TCS a chance at tech innovation. For instance, in 2023, the firm created what it called the first digital heart of a professional runner, namely prominent female marathoner Des Linden, helping her to measure her health and performance and transform her training.

The purpose behind it was to help a runner finally break the two-hour marathon barrier. But perhaps more crucially, this aspect of the sponsorship allows TCS to showcase its tech in a way that could garner interest from clients like health care providers and medical device makers.

TCS and marathons — a perfect marriage

But why has TCS focused on marathons? After all, the company has also sponsored cricket in the past, as well as a Formula E event.

There are a number of reasons for this, including a personal one. TCS’s former CEO N Chandrasekaran, who currently serves as Tata Sons chairman, has been an avid runner. Taking up running for health reasons, he’s run marathons across the world.

N Chandrasekaran, former TCS CEO and current Tata Sons chairman, has been an avid runner and even participated in several marathons, including the Mumbai edition. File image/PTI

When asked about his passion for running, he told LiveMint, “Running helps you notice things that you normally wouldn’t have. It clears your head. There are no cellphones, and you are not doing anything else. Running marathons has also shown me one vital thing — that there are no short-cuts in life.”

But beyond Chandrasekaran’s personal preference for running, there’s also another reason why the firm chose marathons. Abhinav Kumar, chief marketing officer, TCS, noted that running seemed to be a perfect fit for them. “Every year, we have almost 4,000 of our clients and 10,000 of our employees running at these events held in cities that are major business hubs for us.”

For TCS, sponsoring marathons is the perfect fit and allows customers to see the use of their tech. File image/AFP

TCS also appreciates the inclusivity of a marathon. Unlike other sports, anyone and everyone can participate in a marathon. This gives TCS a wider audience. As Rajashree R, former chief marketing officer of TCS told Moneycontrol in a previous report, “The fact that it brings a city together, it brings the common man together, I think is very exciting for us as a brand.”

Even TCS’ current marketing officer concurs with this sentiment that marathons provide TCS with good engagement. “Our industry, our product is invisible,” Kumar was quoted as telling Fortune. “So the focus on running allows TCS crucially to get in front of a lot of executives given running’s deep reach into the professional class. We are engaging with 4,000 business executives with our running platform. But we also see a rise in the sport, and the corporate sector is taking up fitness in a big way.”

A report also found that supporting marathons has provided TCS with a huge boost. According to the Brand Finance ‘Marathons 50 2025’ report, TCS has seen brand consideration at 27 per cent amongst non-runners and 67 per cent amongst marathon runners, highlighting the strong impact of its association with the running community on its business.

Races benefit from TCS too

But it’s not just TCS that stands to gain from sponsoring marathons. The Brand Fund ‘Marathons 50 2025’ report also revealed that while the top 50 marathons in the world contributed $5.2 billion to their neighbourhood economies in 2024, TCS-sponsored races accounted for a considerable $2.25 billion of this – which is approximately 43 per cent of the total economic benefit from the marathons being generated by those sponsored by TCS.

Moreover, TCS-sponsored races raised $279 million for charitable causes.

All in all, it seems TCS’s strategy to run with marathons has paid off.

With inputs from agencies