Apparel giant Adidas and Chinese search engine Sohu.com are on board as well, investing millions attaching their brands to the up-and-coming squad.

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Two hundred fifty of that top tier are foreign companies including such well-known firms as Axa, BASF, Deutsche Telecom, Roche and Adidas.

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As well as soothing his soul, running has also brought Singh unexpected fame -- he appeared in an Adidas advertising campaign along with soccer superstar David Beckham and boxing legend Muhammad Ali in 2004.

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