Even the overcast Hyderabadi skies couldn’t dampen the spirits of the runners who lined up at People’s Plaza on Necklace Road to participate in the sixth edition of the Hyderabad Marathon that kicked off in the wee hours of Sunday.
Warming themselves up despite the chilly weather, over 16,000 runners from across the world took part in this year’s marathon. The event featured a 5K run on Saturday and then the full-marathon and half-marathon on Sunday along with a few other runs.
The full-marathon was flagged off at 5 am by Jitendar, IPS, Additional CP (traffic), followed by the half-marathon, that was flagged off by B. Janardhan Reddy, IAS and commissioner of GHMC at 6 am and culminated at the Gachibowli Athletic Stadium.
One of the interesting features of the event was the number of participants from different parts of the country. Runner Sendhil Kendeeban, the CEO of a healthcare company travelled all the way from Delhi to take part in the Marathon. Jiten Agarwal, a fitness trainer, travelled all the way from Gujarat.
The runner cop
Deputy Superintendent of Police Narender Chungi has been participating in marathons for the past three years along with his professor-wife Sharmila. The couple say fitness is the key to a happy life and they enjoy walking and exercising together. This year, they set a target to complete the marathon within two hours unlike last time, when they took three hours to finish it. Narender says no matter how busy one is with their professional life, it is important to take time out to exercise and stay fit.
Run for a reason
The marathon, that attracted thousands of people on Sunday, was an ideal platform to spread awareness about social causes. The participants, who spread the word about running for health, were exposed to many organisations that were working for other noble causes. The Waste Warriors organisation and My Choices Foundation were two such organisations present at the marathon.
Flew across continents
While a lot of people from the West fly to India to marvel at the Taj Mahal or to explore their spiritual side, Austrian couple Sonja and Rene have flown half-way across the world, solely for the Hyderabad marathon along with their friend Juergan. The trio, who landed in the city on Saturday, completed the 42-km marathon and headed back home the same day!
— With inputs from Shweta Watson and Nikhita Gowra
