Great race: Bangalore on the run

Great race: Bangalore on the run
Marathon On May 15; Celebs,Athletes To Roll In
The Times of India

Bangalore: Here’s news for all those who haven’t run since school days. Following in the footsteps of the Mumbai Marathon which turned out to be a mega event, a marathon involving international athletes, national marathon runners, sportspersons, city’s IT captains, would roll in Bangalore on track on May 15, for the first time in the city. Billed the Lipton Bangalore International Marathon, it traverses 42.195 km and expects a participation of 30,000 people.

Participating athletes include Indians P.T. Usha, Milkha Singh, Ethiopians Fikadu Degefu, Tesfaye Orgawa, Korre Alemu, Marshet Jimma, Kenyans David Kiptanuai, Jane Kariuki. The marathon takes place in three phases: the 42.195-km marathon, 21.1-km half-marathon and 7-km Celebration Run.

Organisers reason that unlike Mumbai, there are no parallel roads to divert the traffic and hence the three-phase marathon would have a multiple loop system. The marathon has a system wherein the runners go around in concentric circles to reach the destination.

The event is slated to start at Kanteerava stadium at 7 am and will touch city landmarks such as Vidhana Soudha, M.G. Road, Cubbon Park, GPO, High Court, Central Library before culminating at the Kanteerava stadium. To ensure that the event is on a par with global standards, organisers are roping in Australian Bob Braid, a class A rated measurer who measures tracks for events like the Olympics. He will inspect the route and then certify it fit for such a large number of participants.

Announcing details at a press meet on Wednesday, K. Govindraju, president, Karnataka Olympic Association, P. Krishnamurthy, general manager, HLL, said the marathon was open to all ‘physically fit’ citizens. Anybody wanting to participate will have to show a medical fitness certificate prior to registering at Kanteerava stadium.