CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dole Food Company celebrated its 125th banana birthday in a big way during Saturday’s 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 7-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.
For continually refreshed and updated information on the Dole 125th Banana-Versary, go to dole.com/125. Use hashtags #DoleBananaVersary, #DoleBananas125, #BananasForTheFuture, #BananaVersary and #Fresh4Future to join in on the conversation.
About RunCharlotte and the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon
RunCharlotte is Charlotte’s home for the resources, inspiration, and experiences to guide runners of all paces. Since 2005, the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon has capped the local road racing season. The event, its participants, and partners have contributed nearly $500,000 to support programs at Novant Health’s Hemby Children’s Hospital. November 16, 2024 marks the 20th anniversary running of The Novant Health Registration is open for all events at https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/Charlotte/CharlotteMarathon
About Dole plc
Dole plc, is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education. For more information, please visit www.dole.com.
