Marathon to begin in Anantapur

Anantapur: International runners from Spain, Ireland and Australia have reached Anantapur, on the ahead of the IVth Anantapur Ultramarathon. As many as 214 runners from the country and abroad will take part in the marathon to be held at Anantapur Sports Village from Tuesday.

In the spirit of fostering a feeling of community and belonging, the IVth edition of Anantapur Ultramarathon will consist of three events - a relay race involving all participants of the marathon. The relay race will be of 2 km in which two members (1 Non-Indian + 1 Indian) would take part.

Our flagship event - the race is the only relay ultramarathon in India. Organised in teams of four, each runner will run a full marathon (42K) in stretches of approximately 10K. Jeeps and buses will carry runners from one transition point to another, where they will be able to rest and interact with local communities.

Of the 112 runners,  53 are foreigners and 59 are Indians. The Anantapur Ultramarathon (AUM) is an initiative by Juan Manuel Viera, an ultra-runner from the Canary Islands in Spain and a volunteer of RDT.  In 2015, he combined his passions—running and social change—and decided he would run a kilometre for every new child enrolled under RDT’s programmes in Anantapur district.

He mobilised 150 new sponsors, which helped to raise funds to build three houses for underprivileged families and to provide bicycles to ensure easy access of rural students to schools. Juan Manuel stood by his word and finally ran 130 km.