Half marathon gets a fantastic response

The enthusiasm was there for all to see as a large number of people turned up to participate in the “Syndicate Bank Udupi Half Marathon” here on Sunday.

The morning chill made no difference to the 2,000 participants participating in the half marathon (21 km) and other races.

Besides the half marathon, there was a 5-km race for boys and girls in the under-16 and under-14 categories, a 3-km race for girls and boys in the under-12 category, a 5-km race for senior citizens, for citizens between 40 and 50 , 50 and 60 years — separately for men and women categories. There was a 5-km race for college students and bank employees. The event had a touch of glamour, with the actress Pooja Gandhi of

Mungaru Male fame being one among those who flagged off the event. The half marathon, which began from the Head Office of the SyndicateBank here, culminated at the same point. Ms. Gandhi told at the prize distribution function that she was touched by the dedication of people of Udupi. She sang a couple of lines of the song

Anisutide Yekko Indu from the Kannada film

Mungaru Male and was cheered by the youngsters. The winners in the men's section of the marathon were — Daasri Vasu of Alva's, Moodabidri (first place); Siddappa S., Chalukya Sports, Badami (second); P. Nagendra Rao, Alva's, Moodabidri (third); Prakash P., MEG, Bangalore (fourth); Santosh, MEG, Bangalore (fifth), and R.B. Subba, Alva's Moodabidri (sixth).

In the women's section of the half marathon, the winners were — Rajashree Patil, Alva's, Moodabidri (first place); Smitha C., Alva's, Moodabidri (second); Disna Malkanth (third); Chaitra, Alva's, Moodabidri (fourth); Kripa, Alva's, Moodabidri (fifth); Deepika, Alva's, Moodabidri (sixth). The first, second and third place winners in men's and women's section got a cash prize of Rs. 50,000, Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 15,000.