Dole sponsors a bunch of banana runners
Dole Food Co. celebrated its 125th banana birthday in a big way during the recent 2024 Novant Health Charlotte Marathon.
As part of its year-long 125th Banana-Versary, a celebration of 125 years in the banana business, the produce leader recruited 125 runners to participate in one of three events at the 2024 Novant Health Charlotte Marathon on Nov. 16.
Dole, which operates its U.S. corporate office in Uptown Charlotte, partnered with Run Charlotte earlier in the year to become the Official Banana of the Charlotte Marathon as a way to salute its historic banana milestone as well as the research-backed health, wellness and post-race recovery benefits of America’s most popular fruit.
On Saturday, in addition to covering race fees for the Marathon, Half-Marathon or Chick-fil-A 5K, Dole provided its 125 runners with official, yellow-and-green DoleRuns Charlotte Marathon run shirts that could be seen across the course. It also hosted the Dole VIP Cheering Section and the Performance Recipes & Resources webpage featuring Dole recipes and training tips for runners at all levels.
Bobby Banana, Dole’s seven-foot healthy-eating ambassador, and his somewhat-smaller cousin, Pineloppy Pineapple, congratulated 5K, Half and Full Marathon finishers after posing with the 125 Dole runners earlier in the morning. Race organizers also handed-out thousands of Dole bananas to runners throughout the day.
