Coimbatore: The Sunday morning was nothing short of a festival, as over 16,000 runners participated in the city's premier event 'Coimbatore Marathon' organised by Coimbatore Cancer Foundation, held here.
Coimbatore: The Sunday morning was nothing short of a festival, as over 16,000 runners participated in the city's premier event 'Coimbatore Marathon' organised by Coimbatore Cancer Foundation, held here.
Stepping successfully into the 7th year with a motto of 'We are more', this year's half marathon covering 21 km with 2300 participants was flagged off early in the morning by C. Sylendra Babu, Director General of Police of the Railways (GRP), Tamil Nadu.
While the 5 km run which had around 8000 participants was jointly flagged of by Dr. Balaji, Managing Director of CCF, Murali, Business head of Vodafone and Ashok Rai, Commanding officer.
Lastly, the 10 km run which had 5000 participants was flagged of by Aruna Lawrence, a Cancer Survivor along with Vice Admiral MS Pawar, Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.
Adding more cheers to the Marathon, a 92-year-old runner, Devaraj took part in the 5km run in male category. An 84- year-old veteran also took part in today's marathon.
Runners from 17 states and one Union terrorist and 194 cities across the country including personnel from defence services, corporates, defence and institutions participated in the marathon in a bid to create awareness on cancer and better the lives of cancer victims.
The roads of the city were flooded with motorists hailing from various part of the state to take part in the marathon. And, aid centres at every 2 km helped the runners to stay hydrated by providing water, energy drinks, fruits and biscuits.
"I am a cancer survivor and taking part in this marathon gives me immense contentment. Every step each of us take today is towards a great cause. With registration numbers increasing every year, it reflects the responsibility of the citizens", said Aruna Lawrance, a cancer survivor.
She recalled that fitness helped her to get out of cancer. "Run for your physical fitness and support cancer patients", she added.
Winners of Coimbatore Marathon 2019
Men - Half Marathon
1. Lingaraj Haliyal 1:12:32
2. Sankar Ganesh 1:12:37
3. Sasi Kumar 1:12:50
Women - Half Marathon
1. V Soniya 1:28:53
2. J Gowthami 1:47:06
3. Merina Mathew 1:52:25
Men Veteran - Half Marathon
1. A Baba 1:25:29
2. Mohamed Idris 1:27:37
3 P Gunavel 1:32:20
Women Veteran - Half Marathon
1. Meenakshi Shankar 1:59:36
2. Urmila sushil Kumar 2:02:06
3. Shilpa dugar 02:04:58
10k Men
1. Karthick S 33:11
2. Anoop prakash 33:12
3. Rahul sisodiya 35:12
10k Women
1. Lovely Twari 44:38
2. S Priya 47:42
3. A Jenifer Susila 54:02
10K Veteran Men
1. Udayakumar 42:20
2. Asokan Shanmugam 45:44
3. Nanjundan Kari 46:35
10k Veteran Women
1. Subalakshmi 59:24
2. Nalini manning 01:07:14
3. Ramapriya Purusothaman 01:07:28