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Indira Marathon in Prayagraj on Friday, top runners from country to compete
The 36th edition of All India Prize Money Indira Marathon will start from Anand Bhawan and end at Madan Mohan Malviya stadium in Prayagraj
Top long distance runners from all over the country, including past champions, are all set to participate in the 36th All India Prize Money Indira Marathon to be held in Prayagraj on November 19, preparations for which have been completed, said the organisers.
Among the prominent runners, include Jyoti Shankar Gawte of Parbhani, Maharashtra who had secured first position in six consecutive races of 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Jyoti went to Madan Mohan Malviya stadium on Wednesday and her swab sample was taken in the evening. The 2019 winner Shyamali Singh of West Bengal has also come to Prayagraj to participate in the race.
Likewise, Indian Army’s Anil Kumar Singh and Shamsher Singh from Dehradun too have submitted their entries to participate in the run. Anil had come second in the 2017 Indira Marathon and Shamsher Singh was fifth in 2019.
Neetu Singh of Phulpur, who bagged second place in the women’s category two years ago, will also be participating in the race this year.
More than 500 entries, including 400 for men’s category and 100 for women’s, had been received till late Thursday evening, said regional sports officer Anil Tiwari.
The health department has made special arrangements for conducting RT-PCR tests of the runners participating in the Indira Marathon.
On the instructions of district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri, a team of health department have set up a team for Corona testing at Madan Mohan Malviya Stadium.
The antigen test report of all the runners has come negative and now their swab samples have been sent for RT-PCR test. Corona test report has been made mandatory for the runners and they will not be allowed to participate in the race if the report is positive or they have not taken both the doses of corona vaccine.
Indira Marathon was started in 1985 in memory of former PM Indira Gandhi. The prize money in its early years was ₹50,000 for the winner while the first and second runner-up were given a cash award of ₹25,000 and 15000 respectively.
Later, the prize money was raised to ₹1 lakh for winners and later the same was enhanced to ₹2 lakh for the winner of both men and female category while the first and second runner-up would be given ₹1 lakh and ₹75,000 respectively. In addition to this, 11 consolation prizes are also given of ₹10,000 in each group.
The race, covering a total distance of 42.195 Km, has been organised every year since 1985, barring 2020 owing to Covid-19. The race would start from Anand Bhawan, the ancestral home of the Nehru-Gandhi family and would pass through Teliarganj, Mayo Hall crossing, High Court, CMP Degree College, SHUATS, Yamuna bridge, Hanuman temple and end at Madan Mohan Malviya stadium.
The run also has a rich legacy of top long-distance runners of the country participating every year, including from the services. Some like Joyti Shankar Rao Gaute has won the run for six years continuously in the women category. Her winning streak was stopped by West Bengal’s Shyamali in 2019.
In 2019, Amethi’s Rahul Kumar (Naib Subedar) became the champion in the men’s category while Harendra Chauhan was just one minute 13 seconds behind Rahul and came second. Hetram of Himachal Pradesh had finished third.
Likewise, Shyamali was the winner in the women’s category and Neeta Patel of Prayagraj and Anita Rani of Haryana secured the second and third positions respectively.
In 2018, the men’s category saw BS Dhoni from Pune of Indian Army becoming the champion.
