In Taiwan, endurance sport has become a proving ground where businesses test ideas about leadership, resilience, and their role in society.

Early on a Saturday morning in January, a large crowd gathered at the base of Taipei 101 to watch a lone figure move along the tower’s steel and glass. As the spectators collectively held their breaths, Alex Honnold, the American climber known for pushing the limits of vertical ascents, gripped the building’s exterior to achieve his lifelong dream of free soloing a skyscraper.

The ascent, livestreamed on Netflix, drew global media coverage and placed Taipei in an unfamiliar spotlight. For once, the city was defined not by geopolitics or semiconductors, but by athletic spectacle set against one of the world’s most recognizable skyscrapers. Taipei 101 shifted from skyline backdrop to active stage, demonstrating how physical infrastructure can generate global visibility when paired with compelling human stories.

That same logic drives another annual event inside the tower: the Taipei 101 Run Up. Each year thousands of participants climb 2,046 steps to the iconic skyscraper’s observation deck. Corporate teams race alongside amateur runners, transforming a commercial property into a civic arena that generates foot traffic, media attention, and recurring engagement.

Among the early corporate partners connected to the Run Up was Standard Chartered Bank, a London-headquartered international bank with deep roots in Asia. Over the years, the bank’s involvement evolved into a broader strategy centered on endurance sports, culminating in the launch of the Standard Chartered Taipei Charity Marathon in 2013.

Rather than simply attaching its name to an existing race, the bank chose to build and operate its own event, integrating charity fundraising, corporate engagement, and professional race standards from the outset.

“If we put our name on an event of this scale, we take responsibility for every detail,” says Chen Kung-ju, head of corporate affairs, branding, and marketing at Standard Chartered Taiwan. “The race has to work for the city and for the runners.”

That philosophy shapes how the bank positions its Taipei race within a network of Standard Chartered running events held across multiple global markets. Organizers compare routes, elevation profiles, climate conditions, and runner feedback across cities, consistently ensuring that Taipei remains one of the races where participants can realistically achieve personal bests (PBs).

Chen notes that this emphasis on performance reflects runner behavior rather than marketing aspiration. “People don’t only come for the medal,” he says. “They come because they believe they can beat their own record here.”

Meeting those expectations requires infrastructure that most participants never notice, from internationally recognized timing systems and course certification to medical protocols that ensure results are accepted beyond Taiwan’s borders.

Both the Standard Chartered Taipei Charity Marathon and the long-running Taipei Marathon work with World Athletics, whose timing and data systems help guarantee results meet global verification standards and can be used as official qualifying times for international races.

Standard Chartered’s most recent edition drew more than 26,000 runners from dozens of countries, ranging from children in family runs to participants in their eighties. Registration fees and fundraising generated millions of New Taiwan dollars for NGOs focused on youth employment and opportunities for women and people with visual impairments. More than 700 employees and family members joined the race, while staff volunteers supported guide runner recruitment, event logistics, plogging, and community outreach.

Chen describes the marathon as a year-round operational project rather than a single marketing event. Teams analyze satisfaction data, refine route logistics, and coordinate with municipal agencies months in advance. Negotiations with city authorities over traffic management and public communication require careful balancing, particularly as Taipei’s race calendar grows increasingly crowded.

“There are many marathons now,” Chen says. “The challenge is creating an event that people feel is worth returning to every year.”

Part of that differentiation comes from initiatives that reshape how runners interact with the environment. Standard Chartered introduced plogging teams — groups of employees who jog while collecting waste along the race route — after organizers observed discarded cups and packaging accumulating at hydration stations.

The initiative required recruiting and training staff volunteers and integrating cleanup logistics into race planning. It also served a secondary purpose: rather than relying on signage or public messaging, it embedded environmental action into race operations, spotlighting staff participation to runners and spectators.

The plogging initiative has also changed internal dynamics, says Jessie Chiu, director of community engagement, brand, and sponsorship at Standard Chartered Taiwan. Thanks to this new element, employees who might not normally volunteer for race-day logistics found a role that matched their interests and schedules, she notes.

Participation and public trust

Taiwan’s marathon landscape has matured beyond individual events into a broader ecosystem shaped by long-term institutional participation and public trust. That focus on operational credibility echoes across the ecosystem.

Fubon Financial Holdings Co., one of Taiwan’s largest financial services groups, entered the marathon landscape through an acquisition that brought sponsorship of the Taipei Marathon under its umbrella. The marathon, held annually in December since 1986, has a Gold Label from World Athletics, making it one of the world’s leading road races.

Cindy Lin, executive vice president of Fubon Financial Holdings, says sport fits naturally into the company’s long-standing engagement with Taiwanese society. “We have supported sports in Taiwan for decades,” she says. “The marathon allowed us to bring that commitment into a space where people from different backgrounds come together.”

Fubon later expanded its presence by becoming title sponsor of the Kao-hsiung Marathon during the pandemic, strengthening ties with southern Taiwan during a time when many companies reduced sponsorship commitments. Lin says the decision reflected both regional development priorities and a belief that endurance sports create durable platforms for engagement between businesses, local governments, and residents.

“Through sport, people can observe how a company actually operates,” she says. “It is not only about visibility. It involves long-term participation, cooperation with local governments, and consistent support that communities can see year after year.”

Environmental initiatives now sit at the center of Fubon’s marathon strategy. Through its Run For Green® program, the company links cumulative running distance to tree-planting efforts across Taiwan. Digital platforms track participant mileage across multiple events, translating physical activity into measurable environmental outcomes.

“Participants record their distance across different races and through online platforms, and every 40 kilometers translates into a tree planted in Taiwan,” Lin says. “We wanted people to clearly understand how individual effort connects to environmental restoration.”

The company also mobilizes extensive volunteer networks, including staff trained to guide visually impaired runners. Training programs require supervised practice and ongoing evaluation, turning volunteerism into a structured operational role.

“Guiding a runner is built on trust,” says Lin. “It requires commitment and consistency.”

For Standard Chartered, inclusion has emerged incrementally, shaped by the bank’s early work with smaller-scale running events and community programs. Before launching its marathon, the bank invited visually impaired runners to participate in shorter races and internal events, pairing them with employee volunteers on an informal basis. The objective was participation rather than performance, and the initiatives focused on lowering psychological and logistical barriers to entry. These early efforts helped organizers understand where support was most needed.

“In the early stages we focused on encouraging participation first,” says Chen. “Some runners felt uncertain about joining, so we paired them with volunteers and created smaller opportunities to participate. The goal was to help people feel comfortable showing up at the starting line before thinking about performance.”

Fubon’s approach to inclusion is driven by scale and institutional responsibility. As title sponsor of two major city marathons, the company faced operational demands that required formal systems. As a result, its visually impaired running guide program has evolved into a structured training pipeline, with clear qualification requirements, supervised practice sessions, and defined roles on race day.

“Becoming a guide runner requires extensive preparation, including training hours and supervised practice,” says Lin. “It is not a symbolic role. Guides and runners build trust through repeated training and clearly defined responsibilities on race day.”

Sport as corporate philosophy

Endurance as a long-term engagement platform has also drawn participation from Taiwan’s technology sector, where companies are increasingly using sport not only for visibility but as an extension of organizational philosophy.

Among the most visible examples is the MaiCoin IRONMAN Taiwan race held annually in Kenting, where athletes swim in open water before cycling and running along Taiwan’s southern coastline. Unlike mass-participation city marathons, triathlons demand sustained preparation across multiple disciplines, a characteristic that appealed to Taipei-based cryptocurrency exchange MaiCoin as the company sought ways to shape internal culture during the pandemic years.

MaiCoin Chairman Alex Liu says the company’s involvement began less as a marketing exercise than as a response to circumstance. During Covid-19 travel restrictions, employees and executives found themselves confined to Taiwan, prompting a search for activities that encouraged resilience and personal growth outside the office.

“We were all cooped up on this island during the pandemic,” Liu says. “So the idea was simple — get outside, challenge ourselves, and make the best of the situation.”

Liu, a longtime runner and cyclist who began competing in triathlons around 2017, saw parallels between endurance sport and the challenges of building a cryptocurrency company in a heavily regulated financial environment. Success, he argues, depends not on mastery of a single skill but on the ability to balance multiple disciplines simultaneously.

“To build something new, you have to be multidisciplinary,” he says. “In triathlon you swim, bike, and run. In our industry you need technology, finance, and leadership working together. Being strong in only one area is not enough.”

MaiCoin’s sponsorship quickly evolved into an internal initiative encouraging employees to participate. Several staff members who initially could not swim began training for races, a transformation Liu says reshaped team dynamics.

“Watching colleagues go from office workers to weekend warriors was incredibly motivating,” he says. “When individuals become stronger and more confident, the organization becomes stronger as well.”

The company frames its involvement as an extension of a broader philosophy influenced by the “student-athlete” culture Liu encountered during his university years in the United States, where academic performance and athletic discipline were seen as mutually reinforcing rather than competing priorities.

“Endurance sports build mental toughness, focus, and resilience,” Liu says. “Those qualities translate directly into how people approach work and collaboration.”

Unlike large city marathons designed to attract tens of thousands of participants, IRONMAN races remain comparatively niche. Liu says that exclusivity strengthens rather than limits their impact.

“It’s not a mass-market activity,” he says. “But for the people who understand it, the identity is very strong. Sponsoring the race shows what we stand for — persistence, resilience, and long-term commitment.”

The Kenting event has also highlighted how endurance sports can function as informal leadership development. Training milestones often spread organically through teams, with early participants encouraging colleagues to join once they see progress firsthand.

“Success and wellbeing are infectious,” Liu says. “When people see others overcome something they once thought impossible, they start to believe they can do it too.”

The power of representation

Boston Scientific, a multinational medical technology company specializing in minimally invasive devices, operates in a separate lane altogether. Rather than organizing races or sponsoring large-scale events, the company uses sport as a narrative platform to reshape how recovery, disability, and participation are understood in public life.

In Taiwan, the company’s approach has taken visible form through the global Purple Light Up initiative, an annual campaign marking International Day of Persons with Disabilities in which companies and public institutions illuminate buildings in purple to signal support for dignity and inclusion. Since introducing the initiative locally in 2023, Boston Scientific has worked with corporate and community partners to expand participation across Taipei, turning a symbolic gesture into a broader conversation about accessibility in workplaces and everyday environments.

Sport has become a natural entry point for those discussions. By featuring Paralympic athletes, adaptive sports organizers, and advocates for inclusive play spaces during Purple Light Up programming and related events, the company celebrates the resilience and perseverance that inspire us all to navigate life’s challenges.

“When adaptive athletes appear in public sporting events, it changes conversations in workplaces and families,” says Vanessa Kuo, senior communications specialist at Boston Scientific Taiwan. “People begin to see capability rather than limitation, and that awareness continues after the event ends.”

Rather than focusing on race logistics, Boston Scientific centers its efforts on storytelling and representation, working with corporate partners such as Taiwan Fertilizer Co., Grand HiLai Hotel, and CTBC Holding, to place adaptive athletes in highly visible settings where performance, not disability, defines perception. These initiatives connect closely with the company’s mission: transforming lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. Restoring mobility is not only a clinical outcome but a pathway back to independence, employment, and social connection, Kuo notes.

The programming has featured Xiao Xiang-wen, Paralympic taekwondo medalist, Pan Wei-chieh, an adaptive baseball organizer, and Fiona Chou, advocate working to expand inclusive playgrounds across Taiwan, collaborations designed to shift public understanding from sympathy toward participation. Kuo says these stories resonate far beyond the healthcare sector, influencing how employers, colleagues, and communities think about ability.

“When people regain the ability to move, they reconnect with work, family, and competition,” she says. “Sport makes that progress visible.”

The Purple Light Up initiative reinforces that message by translating awareness into collective action. Illuminated buildings draw attention, but the longer-term goal is cultural change — encouraging companies to move beyond symbolic support toward sustained engagement with disability inclusion.

“Inclusion is not achieved through a single campaign,” Kuo says. “It requires consistent collaboration between companies, athletes, and communities so that participation becomes normal rather than exceptional.”