Shimla: Long distance runner Rakesh Kumar from Mandi came out top in the half marathon (21.5 Km) run for men category, while Choaba Chanu from CPRF was winner in the women category half marathon held on Sunday to mark World Tobacco Day.
Organised by Himachal Police as Sadbhavana Marathon, a clouded sky kept day temperatures down as the uphill and downhill gradient race tested the stamina of about 5000 amateurs and professional long distance runners who turned up for it.
While Rakesh beat CRPF runners Hari Shanker Sharma and Tiku Ram at second and third place, in the women category winner Chaoba and runner up Wahida belonged to CRPF para-military services. The 3rd place in the women category was Rita Thakur, a runner from Hamirpur.
Besides the half-marathon, a race over a 10 Km distance was held for those aspiring to marathon runners.
In the 10 Km men’s category, Vikas Kumar from CRPF was declared winner and Singh from Kinnaur was runners up and Kamal Singh from the army was 3rd.
In the women category for 10 Km run, the winner was CRPF’s Sandhya, Punjab Police’s Asha Rani was runner up and Nivedita Singha, a final year student at St Bede’s bagged the 3rd position
While the half marathon race carried a cash prize of Rs 31,000 for the winners, Rs 21,000 for second position and Rs 11,000 for the third position in the men and women category, in the 10 Km race the first prized was Rs 11.000, second prize was Rs 7500 and third positions had a cash prize of Rs 5000.
Teams representing ITBP, BSF, CRPF, SSB, Indian Army, Railways, SJVNL, Punjab Police, Haryana Police and Himachal Police participated in the event.
Speaking about the race senior police officer Somesh Goyal said, “objective of the Marathon was to create awareness in society about ill effects of Tobacco and drugs.
The race was flagged of by chief secretary Rajwant Sandhu and DGP Daljeet Manhas.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
