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Indira Marathon: Route set, preparations complete for 36th edition of run
Preparations are almost complete for the Indira Marathon, set to be held in Prayagraj, on November 19
Preparations are almost complete for the Indira Marathon, set to be held in Prayagraj, on November 19.
In all, 16 booths will be set up along the route for the runners and police will remain deployed at 54 specific spots all along the route. Around 1,000 volunteers and five ambulances will also be deployed to meet any eventuality, officials explained.
As per the norms finalised, any runner wishing to participate in the 36th All India Prize Money Indira Marathon, who has not taken both shots of the anti-Coronavirus vaccine, will have to show his/her latest RT-PCR report, while others will have to show their certificates of having taken both jabs.
As for those runners who do not report with the latest “all clear” RT-PCR report, they will have to undergo a Covid-19 test at a health department camp that will be set up at the Madan Mohan Malaviya Stadium. Only if the test report declares them Sars-Cov-2 negative, will they be able to take part in the marathon, district magistrate, Prayagraj, Sanjay Kumar Khatri, said.
The DM said that work was underway to repair the roads along the route for the race and the dozen odd potholes still existing would be filled up well before the start of the run.
Minister of state for sports and youth welfare (independent charge) Upendra Tiwari will be the chief guest of the opening and the closing ceremony of the marathon, he added.
Khatri said that the route of the run has been changed this time around and the runners will proceed to Rewa Road from New Yamuna Bridge directly and return via the Bharat Petroleum petrol pump. “Owing to the pandemic, the cross country run that coincides with the Indira Marathon will not take place,” he added.
Regional sports officer Anil Tiwari said that students of different schools will present a colourful cultural programme at the closing ceremony of the event.
The winner of both the men’s and women’s category of the run will take home cash prize of ₹2 lakh each, while the first runner-up in both categories will receive a cash reward of ₹1 lakh each, even as the second runners-up of both categories will get ₹75,000 each.
The Indira Marathon’s maiden edition was held on November 19, 1985, after being flagged off by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In 2020, the marathon could not be held owing to the lockdown enforced after the Covid-19 breakout.
