Runners in the 4th Anantapur Relay Ultramarathon that concluded on Friday morning raised ₹1.60 crore, which would be used by the Rural Development Trust (RDT) to build 45 houses at a village in the district.
In the ultramarathon, 104 participants reached the RDT Hospital at Bathalapalli in the district after running from 5 p.m. on Thursday until 11 a.m. on Friday. The RDT would use the funds for families living in huts at Sundaraiahgari, where the run began.
Runners were divided into 26 teams of fours and raised funds on a 170-km trail that passed through Thatimekalapalli, Chavitivaripalli, Banan Cheruvupalli, Mekkalacheruvu Ext., Payakattudevalacheruvu, Puligandlapalli,Talupula, Batrepalli, Gondhipalli, Tapitivaripalli, Thimanaynapalyam, Indukuru, Bhudanampalli, Marrimekulapalli and Tadimarri. At the villages, runners took rest and interacted with villagers.
From Tadimarri to the finish line, ultra-runners were joined by locals taking part in the 10K run.
In the ultramarathon and the 10K run, 214 runners from India, Spain, Australia, Ireland and the USA took part.
Some of them, like Spaniard José Borrás, have been returning every year. “I feel this has been the toughest edition since we had more people than last year and had to travel in buses instead of jeeps. I did not sleep at all and the weather was hot. It was extremely tough but worth every drop of sweat,” he said. Peter Keogh, who came from Ireland along with his daughter, took part in the ultramarathon for the first time. Krish Hanumanthu, from Bangalore, drove to Anantapur yesterday to took part in the 10K run along with two friends.
