Jamshedpur, Jan. 11: The much awaited Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Half-Marathon, the first professional run of the city organised by the steel major today turned out a grand event with participation of more than 3000 enthusiastic runners.
The half-marathon (21.1km) was flagged off by Dr S C Jamir, Governor Of Odisha, at Kalinga Stadium in the presence of Sudam Marandi, Minister of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha, Sidhant Mohapatra, MP, Berhampur, Priyadarshi Mishra, MLA, Bhubaneswar, T V Narendran, MD, Tata Steel India & SEA, Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice-President, Corporate Services , Tata Steel, Arun Misra, Vice-President, Project Gopalpur & MD Tata Steel SEZ, and Chanakya Chaudhary, Group Director, Corporate Communication and Regulatory Affairs, Tata Steel.
The half-marathon starting from Kalinga Stadium went 10 km towards Chandrasekharpur, taking U-turn from there ended at the stadium. 210 marathoners participated in the Half Marathon. Sima and Deepak Kumbhar were the winners in female and male category respectively in 21.1 km half marathon and were awarded Rs 100, 000 each by Aditya Prasad Padhi, chief secretary, Government of Odisha. It was followed by 10 km run for corporate houses and 5 km run for school children.
Sudam Marandi, Minister Sports and Youth Services, said that we must support such endeavors as they help in connecting citizens and promoting fitness. We will continue to provide all support to help such endeavors engage more and more participants across the State.�
Speaking on the occasion, T V Narendran who also participated as a runner in the 10 km segment, said that the huge success of this Tata Steel Bhubaneswar half-marathon proves the appeal of such professional events to the sports loving people of the state and Tata Steel is committed to make it a landmark event in the sporting calendar of Odisha in coming days.
The Kalinga Stadium wore a festive look as thousands, clad in green t-shirts, including senior government officers, corporate executives, students from various institutions and schools ran in different categories while a crowd of people from different walks of life cheered for them.
Awards worth of Rs 9,14,000 (excluding applicable taxes) were given to winners in different categories. The awards were given in three different categories with the highest prize money of Rs 1,00,000 going to each of the winners (Men and Women category) of the 21.1kms run.