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There is no greater pride than the confirmation that, throughout the 11 editions, the Oltenia Marathon represents more than a sporting event. This is a reality that has changed behaviors and that today brings together a strong community of lovers of nature, movement and good deeds.
We invite you, therefore, to go through with us the conversation we had with Corneliu Bodea, the CEO of Adrem, the man who has been by our side since the beginning.
1. You have been an important supporter of our event for several years. What #MOtivat you to get involved?
We have been with the Oltenia Marathon and our partner, CEZ Group in Romania, since the first edition and that is why it has become a traditional event in Adrem. Every year I have colleagues who come back to the races in the competition, but also colleagues who participate for the first time and test their limits and resilience.
Motivation has grown with the desire for change and the fact that we are redefining our notion of comfort. Until recently, at the societal level, we understood by comfort to have, for example, a personal car with which to travel, which has led over time to increasingly polluted cities. The fact that we are directly experiencing the effects of cities suffocated by pollutants, which affects our health, has led us to redefine the concept. Comfort now means being able to breathe fresh air even in a city with a few hundred thousand inhabitants, to be able to go for a run without feeling a feeling of suffocation. We understand comfort as a state of well-being necessarily in harmony with what is around us and with nature, because we are in a relationship of interdependence.
2. Year after year, some of your employees accept the challenge of running trail runs or MTB races. How did you manage to encourage outdoor sports within the company?
In Adrem we are used to a more dynamic life, because many of our electricians, meter readers, engineers and project managers often work in the field. It is the nature of their profession, to go where the works are carried out or where the subscribers are. We are a well-knit team, at least that’s how I feel, and I notice that the Oltenia Marathon is seen by my colleagues as an opportunity for teambuilding. Maybe only at the Trail Run we have a competitive spirit, because there are also employees with experience in marathons. But at MTB, their greatest joy is to pedal together. I think it’s a good mix between this manifestation of team spirit and the pleasure of getting energy from nature, through sport.
3. First of all, the Oltenia Marathon is an event through which, together with partners and athletes, we support social causes that need support. Why do you think it is important for the private sector to take an active role in solving the various challenges faced by a community?
Local communities are very important to us, especially since we work all over the country. We have offices in 18 counties and over 1000 employees, which means that we are strongly concerned about what happens in the communities where we operate and where our colleagues, customers, Adrem partners live. Neither the private sector nor we, individually, exist separately from the community, so taking an active role in solving these problems is natural.
As CEO I have a responsibility towards the well-being of my employees, which is directly linked to the success of our business. The business would not be successful if we could not support it through the resources in the communities – first of all, the people – and if there was no progress towards which they would tend. For example, the green energy solutions we offer are the result of expressed needs for energy efficiency, electromobility, smart and sustainable consumption. So we cannot exist without each other and then we have a clear responsibility towards the development of the community.
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