Date:12/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091205082100.htm

Sport - Athletics

Indian Open marathon on Sunday

Sports Reporter

Milkha Singh will flag off the marathon

Winners, both men and women, will take home Rs. 1 lakh

NEW DELHI: The Indian Open marathon has been revived after a gap of six years and the Rs.10 lakh prize money event will be run on Sunday from and to the Nehru Stadium here.

In its earlier avatar as Rath Indian marathon, it had a successive run from 1982 to 1999, before the Sriram Group of Companies, the sponsors, spilt in different entities. The Siddharth Sriram Group has come forward to restart the tradition under the brand name, Mawana Sugars.

A good performance in the event will come in handy for the state and departmental board runners as the Athletic Federation of India (AFI) has accorded national status to the Mawana Sugars marathon.

Points earned at the marathon will be counted towards the team championship in the National Open athletics championship to be held here in the first week of October. The winner of both the men and women categories will stand to gain Rs.1 lakh in cashwith the prizes going down till the 30th position. The runners-up in both the sections will earn Rs.50,000 each.

Half-marathon

There will also be a half-marathon for men and women with top prize of Rs.25,000 in both the categories. Both the events are also open for men over 45 and women over 40 with separate cash prizes set-aside for senior citizens.

The marathon will be flagged-off by Milkha Singh.

"Our intention is to make this marathon into an international event in the near future,'' said Siddharth Sriram. For this year though, only Indian runners have sent in their entries. Prominent among them are K.C. Ramu, the winner of 2005 Bangalore International marathon and Surender Kumar, the winner of Delhi International marathon in the men's section.

National record-holder Satyabhama, Indresh Dhiraj, two-time winner of the Mumbai marathon and Leelamma, the winner of Delhi and Bangalore events, are the prominent faces in the women's section.

The marathon will start from the West Gate of the Nehru Stadium and will take Bhishma Pitamah Marg, August Kranti Marg, Outer Ring Road near Panchsheel flyover, Joseph Tito Marg, Chirag Delhi flyover, Moolchand flyover, Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, Mathura Road, Sher Shah Suri Road, India Gate hexagon, Zakir Hussain Marg, Subramanium Bharti Marg, Max Muller Road, Lodhi Road, and back to the Stadium.