CHENNAI: Chennaiites turned out in droves for the Marg Chennai Marathon in aid of GiveLife charity, as over a lakh people turned up at Anna Square early on Sunday to participate in the 7-km City Run and the 21-km Half Marathon.
The sky was largely overcast but the mood was completely upbeat, what with huge participation from NGOs and colleges. Corporates too chipped in to do their bit at the marathon.
Mayor M Subramanian flagged off the City Run at 6 am, touted to be the fun event at the marathon. This run, which had no prizes, saw young and old running and walking in good cheer. The yoga freak that he is, the Mayor, though, did not take part in the run. “I had to oversee a lot of the organisations,” he said with a smile.
Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi flagged off the Half Marathon, the event for the serious runner. “The response to this event has exceeded my expectations,” she beamed. “It’s nice to see corporates and NGOs coming together for a cause.”
Marg, the main sponsor of the event, expressed happiness with the response to the event. “Our cause is fulfilled,” its Chairman and Managing Director GRK Reddy said.
Actor Sneha and drummer Sivamani, amongst other celebrities along with a host of other corporate heads, participated with gusto in the event.
The winners
In the wheelchair run meant for the alternately abled, M Srinivas Rao emerged the winner in the men’s category. D Mariappan and K Mohan took second and third place respectively.
Amongst the women, R Deepika stood first, closely followed by D Devaki and J Anuradha. First place in this run carried a cash prize of Rs 5,000. Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 are the respective cash awards for second and third places.
Special awards
Apart from the runners, there were special awards given away at the Marg Chennai Marathon. In the Most Cheerful School category, first place was taken by Soundarapandia Subbammal School and second was grabbed by Gil Adarsh School. The Most Cheerful College award went to Government College of Fine Arts, seconded by Sriram Engineering College. The Best Social Message Award went to Reclaim Your Beach NGO, followed closely by Quaid-e-Milleth College for Women. The Best Costume/Theme award went to Fine Arts, with Society Soldiers on their heels. Bajaj Allianz was adjudged the Most Cheerful Corporate and Volex got second place to them. The best Sports Club award was given to Veerapandia Kattabomman Vilayaattu Kuzhu. Each of these awards carried cash prizes of varying amounts from `5,000 to `20,000.
Sivamani enthralls crowd
Sivamani was the biggest crowd-puller at the marathon. After participating in the 7-km City Run, the celebrated artiste set up his drums on the middle of the road near Anna Square and began to play. As the crowd around him began to swell, the police stepped in and moved him to the stage to prevent a possible blockade of the marathon path. As Sivamani drummed with his characteristic showmanship, youngsters went wild, throwing water-bottles in the air and squirting fountains of water at random into the crowd. Sivamani modified the beats of popular tunes and got the crowd chanting and even dancing as he picked up the beats. The police had to make a stern announcement to the audience not to squirt water into the crowd.
The serial runner
Santhosh Kumar is a serial runner. This is the second time the national athlete has claimed the top spot in the Men’s National 21-km Half Marathon run. The first time was in 2008, at the first Marg Chennai Marathon. A Railway Traveling Ticket Examiner by profession, Santhosh has come from Bangalore to participate in Sunday’s run. “I won second place at the Delhi marathon, the Bangalore 10-km run and the Mumbai Marathon,” he beamed.