The third edition Amaravati Marathon once again brought together a sea of athletes and footrace enthusiasts on Sunday morning.
Before the dawn broke, thousands of enthusiasts, including teenagers and senior citizens, gathered on M.G. Road near the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium.
As Minister D. Umamaheswara Rao, MP Kesineni Srinivas, Collector B. Lakshmikantham, Commissioner of Police D. Gautam Sawang and others flagged off the half marathon (21K), 10K and 5K run one after the other runners who have been practising since months unleashed themselves heading towards the endpoints.
Athletes M. Lingana and P. Usha Rani emerged as winners of the half marathon in male and female categories respectively.
G. Venkateswarlu and Babu Jaan finished second and third in the male category while I. Pooja and K. Vikyanti finished second and third in the female category.
In the 10K run, G. Vijaya Kumar, R. Ramesh Chandra and J. Yadav won the first three places respectively in the male category. In the female category K. Sowjanya, D. Priyadarshini and Swati Mula won first three places respectively.
In the veteran category (above 55 years age) of half marathon, Md. Idris, Srinivas Reddy and Sunil Gaur bagged the first three places in the male category and A. Gayatri, Usha Kiran and Lakshmi Sri bagged the first three places.
Later addressing the gathering at the IGMC Stadium premises, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu congratulated the winners and participants.
He said Amaravati Marathon is emerging as one of the best events in the country and about 7,500 participated on Sunday. “Such a huge participation is appreciable and all those who came to witness the event should participate from next year,” he said. Mr. Naidu stressed the need for physical fitness and said that participation in the run is more important than winning medals. He called upon the chiefs of all municipalities in the State to organise similar marathon events in their towns and cities and local representatives will give all support.
Energy partners of the event Merck Limited distributed over 8,000 packs of Electrobion Sip to the participants who finished the runs. The event was organised by DEEP Trust with the support of various government and private organisations. Race Director Dr. N. Murali and others were present.
