Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon 2010 event to take place this weekend

The Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon, Norway’s answer to the New York Marathon and London Marathon, is taking place this weekend 25-26 September in Oslo. The event, organised by one of Norway’s leading athletics organisations, Vidar Sports Club, expects close to 16,000 people from 71 different nations to run. If Vidar’s prediction is realised, the Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon will smash the previous record of 14,192 runners set in 1994 for a street race in Oslo.

Nils-Jostein Helland, chair of Vidar Sports Club commented, “The goal is to create a top-class European marathon event which also serves as a popular festival in Oslo. We have participants from all over Norway as well as from 71 countries worldwide. So this represents an excellent way to market Oslo as well.”

First staged in 1981, Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon has become Norway’s largest street marathon. Additionally, the event now offers a marathon (42,195 metres), a half marathon (21,097 metres), 10 kilometres and three kilometres. Fokus Bank, a branch of Danske Bank, is working to continue developing the event in collaboration with the Vidar Sports Club.

“We see that a great many of our customers are concerned with an active lifestyle. We’ve opted at Fokus Bank to become the strategic partner and sponsor of this event in order to help grow the Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon from today’s level to the vision of 50 000 runners. The fact that people can participate in a mini-marathon, a half-marathon and a full marathon also shows that we have a good family offer. That corresponds with our strategy as a bank,” explained Trond Mellingsaeter, chief executive of Fokus Bank and the strategic partner for the Oslo event.

This year’s event, for the first time, is holding a special disabled class that involves a pilot project where blind and partially-sighted runners are assisted by accompanying celebrities. Being staged by the Active Against Cancer foundation, this scheme includes partially-sighted athlete Hakon Gisholt as one of 13 runners afflicted by the retinitis pigmentosa eye disease.

“Active Against Cancer has no less than 200 runners in Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon,” reports Helle Aanesen, chief executive of the foundation. “They’ve paid NOK 2400 each to take part, with all the money going to us. Our goal is to generate revenues through physical activities which are devoted entirely to fighting cancer.”

To learn more about the Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon, visit http://en.oslomaraton.no/