CHENNAI: All roads on Sunday will lead to the Anna Square on the Marina beach as the Marg-GiveLife Chennai Marathon gets underway. Introduced a couple of years back to fund the initiatives of Tamil Maiyam, the run has gone on from strength to strength to become a regular feature in the Chennai calendar. Registrations were in full swing at the office of the Tamil Maiyam at Mylapore. About 1 lakh people are expected to take part in the various categories.
The marathon, promises to be a star-studded affair with several politicians, film stars, sportspersons and eminent citizens promising to lend their hand for the cause. Although there are no professional international runners taking part in the meet, still the marathon promises to be an exciting affair. About 5000 runners will bee seen in the professional 21 kms run. The majority of registered athletes and children and elders will take part in the 7 kms run. A handful will take part in the wheel chair run.
Santhosh Kumar who won the event couple of years back will be seen in action tomorrow to try his luck at the 21 kms event and he looks like the favourite to pocket the title as he is familiar with the route and conditions.
Sunil Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Saji Mathew, Yugender, Preethi Rao Rajeshwari Patil, Pama Chanda _all national level athletes will vie for top honours in both men and women’s category. State level athletes like Lakshmanan, Rajesh, Ezhil Nilavan, Sudha, Surya, Geetha and Padmavathi will also lend their weight for the cause. Actors Arya, Priyamani, Sneha and sportsmen like Robinson (basketball), Raman Vijayan (football) and Navin (volleyball) are most likely to participate in the event. Kanimozhi (M.P.), Subramanyan (Chennai Mayor), Mohideen Khan (TN Sports Minister),Aladi Aruna (TN IT Minister) will be flagging off the events and taking part in the meet.
Members of the British High Commission, several professionals from various corporate houses too will try their luck at long distance walking.
The route will be as usual from Anna Square to Besant Nagar and back. Water points, medical assistance and refreshments will be available throughout the route in all the categories. The public can park their vehicles at the Island grounds.