CHENNAI: There is a runner in everyone, at least in the more than 12,000 enthusiastic people who have registered for the The Wipro Chennai Marathon (TWMC) this Sunday. The third edition of the Chennai Marathon will take a route through some of Chennai’s iconic locales.
Starting at 4 am for the 42 km marathon at Kasturba Nagar MRTS Station, the marathon will have two other categories, a half marathon and a 10 km run. “All arrangements have been made with international standards,” said V P Senthil Kumar, the race director.
The marathon is the brainchild of Chennai Runners, a group that has been promoting running in Chennai since eight years. “This year we have even seen an increased number of women participants,” said Ram Vishwanath, founder of Chennai Runners.
United Way of Chennai, an organisation that is part of the United Way worldwide would be collaborating with around 30 NGOs, which would benefit from the collections of the marathon. “We are hoping to reach around 70 lakh,” said the organisation representative. While the cost of regular registration was `700, there were other methods like charity registration where people could pay more, which would go to these causes.
The sponsors of the event are Adidas, who launched the T shirts and marathon special shoes and Kotak , who launched a marathon edition debit card. The prize money for the full marathon is `50,000 for the first finisher, and `30,000 for the Veterans category.