Hyderabad: Enthusiasm, confidence, high spirits, fitness and motivation marked the half, full marathons and the 10K runs on Sunday.
All along the routes of the Hyderabad Marathon, volunteers kept the runners’ spirits up by applauding, holding placards with messages of encouragement and giving hi-fives to participants.
At eight points along the route, music by bands and DJs kept the momentum going.
The runners in the half and full marathons, aged between 16-93, comprised students, defence personnel, working and retired professionals and home makers.
In the 10K run there were even some participants aged between 10-15. Around 1,000 runners participated in the full marathon, 3,000 in the half marathon and 4,000 in the 10K run. There were also more than 2,000 volunteers.
At the Gachibowli Stadium, which was the finishing point for all the marathoners, volunteers cheered and encouraged until the last runner finished his race.
The stadium slowly started filling with participants who had finished their runs, clicking selfies in front of the marathon banners and congratulating each other.
However, there were a few who could not complete the race. Around 50 cases were received at the medical camp in the stadium of muscle cramps, weakness, dehydration etc. These were taken care of by doctors of a corporate hospital which had its ambulances along the marathon route.
Twelve-year-old B. Akhilesh, who finished the 10K run, said, “I have been practicing for this and knew for sure that I would finish the run. I even participated in the 5K and 7K run and finished them too. I love running and regularly take part in sprint competitions.”
Suresh Ramaswamy, a senior IT employee from Bengaluru said, “I have participated in the Mumbai marathon too. The difference between it and the Hyderabad marathon is that in Mumbai, people cheer the runners from their houses along the route while here it was mainly volunteers.”
Ashu Mario, member of a band which performed for the runners near KBR National Park was upbeat.
“The enthusiasm we witnessed among runners as they passed by us, giving us thumbs up, was similar among people of all ages. While we were playing to keep their spirits up, their enthusiasm in turn kept us going for hours,” he said.
Meanwhile, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter were flooded with updates. While some kept updating their status during the run, most posted their pictures at the finish line. Messages of satisfaction of having completed the run too swirled the cyberspace.
(All photos: Deccan Chronicle)
