Press releases

Budapest, February 14, 2012 14:00

Under an agreement signed recently Telekom has again become the chief sponsor of the spring’s major outdoor running event. The traditional Telekom Vivicittá Run for the City to begin on April 1 is being organised for the 27th time in the capital city by the Budapest Sports Office.

The Telekom Vivicittá runs in Budapest will start from the usual place on Margaret Island with the usual distances. The event, which mobilises tens of thousands of people, is extremely popular due, among others, to the fact that several runs are held so that each member of the family can find the distance suitable for their fitness and capability. Thus in addition to the traditional and popular distances like Vivicittá (12 km), Midicittá (6.2 km), Minicittá (3.2 km), walking (3.2 km) and family run (1 km), keen runners can test themselves in the semi-marathon (21 km) that made its highly successful debut last year. And, like last year, cities in the country can also join the series of events; this year Szolnok and Pécs will host the Vivicittá program as new locations. The run for the city will be held in Pécs on April 14 and in Szolnok on April 15, and the distance through the most attractive streets of the city will be 3.5 km in both locations. The number of participants in Telekom’s Vivicittá Run for the City is growing from year to year; last year a record number of participants were counted, with over 38,000 runners entering the race in Budapest and country locations. All this was also due to T-Home’s “Great Running Duel” advertising campaign which, in the 2011 Sportsperson of the Year competition won the Prize for “Sports Campaign of the Year” on the basis of the votes of the audience.

The Vivicittá runs were launched at an Italian initiative in 1984: inhabitants of the beautiful but crowded historic cities wanted to make people realize the beauties of the places where they lived. This is what gave the name of the competition: “Vivicittá - Let the City Live! Love the City!” The movement was soon joined by metropolises like New York, Lisbon, Brussels, Barcelona and Budapest. The run has been organised in Hungary since 1986 to herald the spring jogging season, over a route which passes the most scenic parts of the city.

Telekom is a committed supporter of high-quality family programs and a healthy lifestyle. Magyar Telekom brands have been placed now for the 14th time in the service of the Hungarian events of this mass sports initiative that has assumed international dimensions, as their name-giving sponsor. For more information on the run and how to enter, visit: www.futanet.hu.