Dhiraagu’s contribution towards the development of telecommunications and digital services in the Maldives is undisputed. As the company that pioneered the telecoms revolution in the Maldives, the company is widely viewed as an important contributor to social and economic growth and a partner in national development.

Readers may perhaps be a bit puzzled as to why this article is discussing a telecoms company in a publication devoted to running. The answer lies in the story of Dhiraagu Maldives Road Race and how the Road Race (as it is popularly known) transformed running into a lifestyle activity in the Maldives. Before Dhiraagu Road Race commenced, largescale running events held on a regular basis and open to the general public were virtually unheard of. Dhiraagu is not just an innovator in telecommunication and digital services but also continues to play a major role in promoting social causes and healthy lifestyle.

Dhiraagu Maldives Road Race (DMRR) is the largest annual run in the Maldives where thousands of people from different age categories participate and is held in the beautiful island of Hulhumale. It is also the only Internationally accredited running event in the Maldives with an IAAF/AIMS certified route. The run is also among a select few in which time keeping is done by a specialized international body. The number of runners have grown exponentially since the first Road Race with around 3000 participants from all walks of life participating in the event during the past few years.

Dhiraagu Maldives Road Race began 12 years ago as one-off event for the company to promote its new broadband packages. The first event titled the Dhiraagu Broadband Road Race attracted just over 150 runners. The challenges were significant- everything from getting Male’s busy roads closed off for the race, to the difficulties of manual time keeping to the myriad of logistic details were all planned and executed in-house by Dhiraagu staff with technical support from the Maldives Athletics Association. The positive public response received for the first event encouraged Dhiraagu to hold a second event the following year and the trend has continued since then. It is this continuing enthusiasm on the part of the running community that makes the Road Race an important milestone in Dhiraagu’s annual calendar and one of the most highlyanticipated public events in the country.

The special appeal of the road race lies in its novel approach that running need not be only for the professionals - it is for everyone. The lowest age for enrolment in the Road Race is 7 years while there’s no upper limit- meaning that entire families could participate in the event. This, in turn, contributed to the popularity of the Road race as a special family-oriented event.

The Road Race was also the first of its kind to introduce the concept of running for a charitable cause. The Dhiraagu Road race opened a platform for NGOs and other civil society organizations involved in child protection to create awareness for their causes. The Dhiraagu Road race provided an avenue through which individual runners could raise funds on their own for charities and NGOs registered with the race. This meant that besides contributions made by the event organizers or sponsors, individual runners were empowered to raise funds for their chosen causes by dedicating their run. For this reason, the Road race is one of the biggest CSR activity of Dhiraagu. No fee is taken from the runners to participate in the race and over the years Dhiraagu Maldives Road Race has played a key role in raising funds for NGOs fighting working for the rights and protection of children.

In the 12 years since the first race, running has become a popular recreational activity amongst Maldivians with the number of running events increasing as well as several registered running clubs operating in the country. Besides the Road Race, other big races such as the TfG LONGRUN with its multiple editions across the country have also furthered the cause of running in the country. The Dhiraagu Maldives Road Race is part of the company’s ongoing drive to spread awareness of child protection, foster a healthy community and contribute towards strengthening community relations.