When people think of running, they might think of the fabled run of Pheidippides in 490 BC from the battle of Marathon to Athens, and yet competitive running predates even the olympics by almost 1100 years, with the first known games held not in Greece, but in Ireland in 1829 BC. Reflecting upon this illustrious tradition, the 2014 SAP Runners Cup (from September 13th to December 14) got SAP employees across the globe onto their feet and into a state of heightened mind, body and sole (129 competed in Silicon Valley, 1109 globally) to clock up the equivalent of almost 6 laps around the world (230,000 km), powered by the amount of calories found in around 30,000 Burger King Whopper hamburgers (around 19,000,000 calories).
THE RULES
Challenges were offered for runners of all ages and levels, with a simple set of rules:
- Choose your team: Teams must comprise two men and two women (four in total), independent of the location
- Choose your track: Run on the road or off the beaten track, across deserts or frozen tundras, if you can run on it, it counts!
- Choose your pace: Run to burn calories, or run for speed,
- Choose your number: Compete with as many teams in as many competitions as you want, or run solo!
THE WINNERS
Congratulations to REDWOOD Runners Team (Eduard Korat, Kate Gueldemesiter, Radina Pangelova and Uwe Enders), who won the Tortoise challenge of the Silicon Valley region (which team burned the most calories), and to the winners of the fastest time challenge (Eric Carlo, Sunanda Sullivan and Lan Teshima). Congratulations all of you!
VOX CURSORES
"I am so happy to see the result. Recently I do not have any motivation for running but the Runners Cup bring me back to the race again! I have enjoyed very much. Thanks a lot!" Yasuko Sekiguchi
"I ran my first half marathon in San Jose this Thanksgiving thanks to Runner’s cup!" Sunanda Sullivan
"I completed my first marathon and I had as much pain in my cheeks from smiling as I had in my legs! I am so happy. Thank you again for a great initiative, please do it something similar next year." Patricia O'Callaghan
"It was my very first 10k race and I’m not really fast but it was such a fun to run in the woods and around a palace!" Bistra Yakimova
"Runners Cup was so addictive that I cancelled my initial plan of taking rest the complete month of September 2014 after running 50km at Chennai Trail Marathon" Satish K
TEAMS RUNNING FOR RUNNING TEAMS
The SAP Runners’ Cup was driven by members of my team, the Developer Culture team (special thanks to Marek Kowalkiewicz, Rocky Ongkowidjojo, Danielle Keene and Karin Schattka), together with the Global Communications and Global Health teams as part of the SAP sports initiative “Do You Do Sports?”. The 2015 event is currently in planning. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please share them in the forum of the SAP Runners Cup Jam group.
