The sole of Dublin

Marathon Challenge: The Adidas four-year deal was a major boost for the Dublin marathon, giving it international recognition…

Marathon Challenge:The Adidas four-year deal was a major boost for the Dublin marathon, giving it international recognition and street credibility, writes Ronan McGreevy.

Dublin City Council's involvement in the marathon stretches back to the first running of the event in 1980. An event of that size, which encompasses the whole city, could not be run without the support of the council as it impacts on so many different departments of the council's activities.

It was a considerable boon for the Dublin City Marathon when it managed to secure a major sponsorship deal with Adidas in 2001. The four-year deal was worth €500,000 at the time and was a major fillip for the marathon organisers. It has since been extended.

Much of the sponsorship put up by Adidas goes on prize money, a critical factor in attracting a world-class field. In 2002 the number of overseas runners surpassed 5,000 for the first time. The prize money on offer this year is more than €100,000 and is evenly divided between men and women. In addition, Adidas bankrolls much of the advertising which promotes the marathon and provides the jackets for race stewards.

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It runs the successful Impossible is Nothing campaign which gave first-time marathon runners a chance to train under the watchful eye of Gary Crossan, a former winner of the event.

Twelve participants, out of hundreds who applied, have been given individual training programmes by Crossan, nutritional advice, a Pilates training course and the Adidas technical running gear.

Adidas has been involved in some of the biggest marathons in the world including London, Paris, Berlin and is also the major sponsor of the Boston marathon, the longest running city marathon in the world.

The involvement of Adidas gives the Dublin marathon an international cachet. The three-stripe Adidas logo is an icon of both sporting prowess and street credibility and is probably the most famous and enduring logo of its kind.

The Adidas story begins in 1924 when brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler formed the company that would make their fame and fortune. Their father ran a small shoe factory in their hometown of Herzogenaruch in Bavaria until he found a way to convert bedroom slippers into light gymnastic shoes. As mass participation in sport began to take off worldwide, so too did their business.

Just four years later, half the athletes at the 1928 Olympic Games wore Dassler shoes. So ubiquitous did they become that Jesse Owens, a Black American who enraged Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Olympic Games by winning four gold medals, caused acute embarrassment for the company by wearing Dassler shoes.

The company survived the second World War, but could not survive the aftermath. Adi and Rudi went their separate ways, Adi to form Adidas and Rudi to form Puma, another enduring sporting brand whose sponsorship totems include World Cup winners Italy.

Adidas was an integral part of the German wirtschaftwunder - the economic miracle that followed the devastation of the second World War. The West German team, which heartened a demoralised nation by winning the 1954 World Cup, were the first ever to wear screw-in studded football boots.

Such innovation became the hallmark of Adidas. In 1962 Adidas invented the first track suit and the first dedicated jogging shoe, or trainer, was invented in 1968. Both will be much in evidence at Monday's marathon.

Adidas has a long history of sponsorship - the most enduring of all is the one it has with the German national team which dates back to that historic win in 1954.