The fifth edition of the “Vodafone Coimbatore Marathon 2017”, organised to create awareness on cancer, saw about 13,500 people taking part here on Sunday morning.
The event was organised jointly by the Coimbatore Cancer Foundation, Coimbatore Runners, and Show Space Events.
Flagging off the 21.1 km half marathon, T. Balaji, Managing Trustee of the Coimbatore Cancer Foundation, said, “The proceeds from this edition will enable us to launch new initiatives, strengthen our existing programmes, and reach out to many more in the community who need our services. We are absolutely overwhelmed by the way the city has responded to the event. The CCF is grateful to Coimbatoreans for turning out in such large numbers and running for a great cause.”
Apart from the 5 km run, the marathon had 21.1 km and 10 km in the open category and 21.1 km and 10 km in the veteran category for me and women.
Madras Regimental Centre, Wellington, was in the limelight with R. Padmanabhan from the MRC as the topper in the men’s 21.1 km marathon. The time he took to finish the run was 1:10:33. Runners-up G.N. Vinodh took 1:11:06 and T. Nikhil took 1:12:02. In the women’s category, Vasanthamani was the winner, she took 1:29:45. Runners-up K. Suguna took 1:30:39 and V. Soniya took 1:36:00.
Mr. Padmanabhan said he had taken part in 12 marathons and was the topper in 10 of them.
In the veteran category for half marathon, Mohamed Idris was the topper. The time he took to finish the run was 1:24:01. The winner in the veteran women’s category was Meenakshi Shankar and the time she took to finish her run was 2:05:35. In 10-km marathon men’s category, T.M. Narayanan was the winner and in the women’s category, R. Lakshmi was the winner.
The 21.1-km half marathon, was flagged off by Dr. Balaji, the 10-km run was flagged off by Manish Singhal, Vice-President (Marketing), Vodafone, Tamil Nadu, and the 5-km was run flagged off by Navin Chandran Nair, Zonal Head, Vodafone, Coimbatore. The marathon began at Nehru Stadium and ended at Stanes School ground. The total cash prize received by the winners was to the tune of ₹ 2.65 lakh.
A 49-year-old man, who took part in the marathon was hospitalised after he suffered a massive cardiac arrest during the run. Hospital authorities said that Suresh Kumar, a resident of Peelamedu, suffered heart attack when he reached Race Course, minutes after the marathon started from Nehru Stadium. He was brought to the hospital in an army ambulance. He underwent angioplasty procedure after given cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Dr. Balaji said that runners were asked to declare their health condition in the entry form based on which participants were permitted. He said that medical teams were present at eight stations to meet emergencies apart from four ambulances.
