JIPMER’s Spandan 2016, a week-long inter-college festival, kicked off on Sunday morning with a marathon run Endurance – 4.0.
Nearly 4,000 people participated in the event, organised by JIPMER Students’ Association (JSA) and International Association of Lions Club, which began at 5.45 a.m. from JIPMER campus.
Children from the age of 10 to adults above 25 years old took part for the cause of road safety.
The marathon runners were divided into four categories based on their age. Those in the age group of 10 -12 were placed in Category D. They covered a distance of 2.5 km from JIPMER to Kokku Park. Children in the age group 13-16 were placed in the C Category. They spanned a distance of 4.5 km run from JIPMER to Venkata Nagar via Balaji Theatre.
The Category A (above 25) and Category B (17-25) ran for distance 8 km run from JIPMER via Muruga Theatre, Atithi Hotel and Beach.
JIPMER Director S.C.Parija distributed the prizes at Gandhi Thidal. District Governor (324-A3) of Lions Club Madava Radjou and Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) Rajiv Ranjan were present.
Suraj Mani and The Tattva Trip will play on the opening night on Monday at the Lister Square.
The winners in the four categories — Category A: Thangavel and Suguna; Category B: Vageesh and Nagavalli; Category C: Pranav and Nivedha.
Parent’s ire
The participants were asked to come to the venue by 4 a.m. Though the marathon began early, the runners had to negotiate traffic as there was no dedicated lane for them. The road from JIPMER to the Beach via Muruga Theatre and Atithi Hotel had a continuous flow of traffic and the runners had to use this stretch. This drew the ire of parents. They complained that making children run on the ECR where many vehicles ply was quite unsafe. A safer route with a dedicated lane for children to run should be ensured for such events marathon.
