Kochi unites for half marathon

Kochi: From 13-year-old Thrissur lad Akhtar to UP man Dharam Pal Singh, who claims to have lived out 116 summers, it was a unique gathering of runners that the city witnessed on Sunday morning.

The occasion was the Cochin international half marathon and more than 8,200 took off from the starting point at the Maharaja’s College ground.

The main event that was the 21km run had 2100 participants while the remaining jogged in the 7km short run while a host of celebrities from the film field, police officials, politicians and businessmen shared the joy of a 1200 m fun run.

Serious marathoners from Kenya, Ethiopia and Estonia and national level champions, including Preeja Sreedharan, Kavita Raut, Sudha Singh, L Surya, G. Lakhman, Kheta Ram and Soji Mathew were key attractions of the event.

The celebrity participants were actors Manju Warrier, Lissy Priyadarshan, TV personalities Renjini Haridas, Rahul Eashwar, ADGP K. Padmakumar, Rear Admiral M S Pawar, former athlete Anju Bobby George and many more.

A team of 280, including 50 doctors from the Ernakulam Medical Trust Hospital assisted the event.

There were 15 ambulances on patrol and hospital reports show at least 200 were treated for cramps and dehydration while 7 were hospitalised.

One person, Shaji Joseph, was admitted to the ICU as he complained of chest pain but hospital sources said that his condition had improved.  

Maiden marathon sees many from Navy

Kochi: For city dwellers it was a surprise to find so many laced up for a run even before the first rays of the sun kissed the soil. The major contributor to Kochi's first such event was the Indian Navy.

A total of 475 personnel from the southern naval command in Kochi took part in the 21 k race while 2237 more protectors of our nation’s shores lined up for the 7 k run making the Navy the biggest participant in the maiden Cochin International half  marathon.

Among those who participated from the navy were Rear Admiral M S Pawar, chief of staff of SNC while surgeon Rear Admiral Girish Gupta ran the 21 km race.

But it was not just the navy that came in numbers, the police department threw in their support by sending over 100. The district administration had arranged KSRTC and private buses from different parts of the district to transport participants.

Malayali marathon specialist Soji Mathew made a great impression on home soil.

He finished third in the elite men category for Indian men while Arjuna winner Preeja Sreedharan failed to finish on the podium in the elite women category.

Soji was glad Kerala had become part of the marathon tradition and expects more participation in the coming years.

“The course was very good. I think long distance training should start from childhood and more youngsters should come forward. I hope the success of this race will inspire many to step forward and run,” said Soji.