KOCHI: The Spice Coast Marathon held here on Sunday was noted for its blend of participants - foreigners, local people, youngsters, elderly and even amputees. According to the organisers, the event was attended by over 2,300 runners and they participated under various heads like full marathon, half marathon and family marathon.
“The marathon, which had its starting as well as finishing point at K K Premachandran Ground, received an overwhelming response. Around 175 persons enrolled for the full marathon, 800 for the half marathon 1,500 for the family marathon. The highlight of the event was the participation of India’s famous ‘blade runner’ Major (retd) D P Singh, 19 members of his organisation ‘The Challenging Ones’ and ace marathoners Steve and Paula Boone,” said an organiser.
A participant said the presence of amputee runners was inspiring and that it would motivate the physically challenged persons to conduct themselves in the mainstream by holding their head high. The organisers, IDBI Federal Life Insurance, said that the winners of the event were presented with a specially designed medallion made of coir. The winners were Vijayaraghavan Venugopal (male) and Claire Briggs (female) in full marathon section and Vijesh V (male) and Lakshmi Nair (female) in the half marathon section.