BANGALORE: Thousands of health-conscious Bangaloreans hit the roads on
Sunday morning with just one mantra: “Run Maadi Run”. With people of all ages
and sizes lining up, the atmosphere was electrifying and colourful. Deepika
Padukone provided the “star” flavour while the police platoons pitched in by
throwing a “security blanket” around.
Ethiopians Deriba Merga and Aselefach Mergia made light of the humid conditions
to make it a creditable “double” for the African nation, which enjoys a rich
tradition in middle and long-distance running, be it on track or on road.
The timing could, however, not match that of last year’s. “If it had rained last
night, the timing could have been much faster. The cloud cover made it humid
pretty early in the morning,” admitted Ian Ladbrooke, manager of the foreign
athletes and some of the international participants.
“The winding roads were good and the traffic well managed. Overall, it was a
well-planned event,” was how some of the “Majja” runners put it. There was less
chaos, and with the finishing point for most races, except the Elite events,
being outside near the volleyball courts at the Kanteerava Stadium, there was
less confusion.
Indian runners, who finished at the podium, sounded confident. “We are happy
that we could push back the challenge from many foreign runners. Our aim was and
is to finish amongst the top ten if not amongst the top six. And though it did
not happen that way, our timings are good and will give us a lot of confidence
for forthcoming events,” said Preethi L. Rao, Karnataka’s lone entry in the
women’s race. Preethi, who finished first amongst Indians in the last edition,
had to be content with the third place this year. “Kavita Raut and Preeja
Sreedharan are both experienced and much fancied athletes. All three of us train
at the SAI South Centre here, and are part of the Indian camp preparing for the
Commonwealth Games and other international meets,” Preethi said. Good money too
came the winners’ way in the form of prizes. While the Elite winners earned US
$21,000, US$ 12,000 and US$8,000 for the top three finishers in both sections,
the Indians were not too far behind.
Sandeep Kumar, Kashinath Aswale (both from the Railways and running for Gujarat)
and Santosh Kumar (Karnataka) among men, and Kavita Raut (Maharashtra), Preeja
Sreedharan (Kerala) and Karnataka’s Preethi L. Rao won Rs. 50,000, Rs. 40,000
and Rs. 30,000 respectively, for their efforts that took just about 35 minutes.
Besides Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat finished in that order in the Nations
Challenge and pocketed Rs. 4.5 lakh, Rs. 3.25 lakh and Rs. 2.10 lakh
respectively as prize money. The event has helped create awareness on the
importance of running in maintaining good health.
Source : The Hindu
