18000 plus runners for 7th Indiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon

(Lto R) Organsing secretary Praksah Vanmali, Honorable Mayor Smt. Praveen Thakur and Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Herwade at the 7th Indiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayor's Marathon on Wednesday - Photo By Sachin Murdeshwar GPN / 6.12.17

(Lto R) Organsing secretary Praksah Vanmali, Honorable Mayor Smt. Praveen Thakur and Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Herwade at the 7th Indiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon on Wednesday – Photo By Sachin Murdeshwar GPN / 6.12.17

Defending champion Rashpal Singh of ASI leads field
Mumbai, Dec 6, 2017 (GPN) : Defending champion Rashpal Singh, of Army Sports Institute and last year’s runner-up Pankaj Dhaka from JSW will lead the field of 36 of the country’s top most long distance male and female athletes in the 7th Indiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayors Marathon, in association with Cigna TTK, which will be flagged off from two different locations, in Virar and Vasai on Sunday, December 10, 2017.

Joining the country’s leading distance runners will be around 18000 plus participants, among them 740 Full Marathoners; 4000 plus Half Marathoners and 2000 plus 11 km Runners. Running in their wake will be around 12000 plus athletes in the junior age group races, over 1.5 kms, 3 kms, 5 kms, 7 kms and 11 kms and the Dhamal Dhaav over 4 kms. Present to encourage the runners and raise their morale will be event ambassadors, Rahul Bose and Mandira Bedi.

Organised by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation and the Vasai Taluka Kala Kreeda Vikas Mandal and promoted by Aryanz Sports PR & Events, the Indiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon provides a prize fund in excess of Rs 40 lakhs, which is the richest in the country for Indian athletes and amateur runners. It is also the only race in the country to have a special category called the “Battle Run”, a team event exclusive for running groups over the half marathon distance and 5 kms.

The winner of the Full Marathon for men will stand to gain Rs 2.50 lakh, while the male and female winners of the Half Marathon will take home Rs 1.25 lakh each. There is an increase in the prize money for amateur runners as well in the different age groups.

Rashpal is in good form this year, having recorded his personal best of 2:20.23 at the National Marathon in Delhi. At the last edition of the Indiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon, running a brave start-to-finish race, Rashpal clocked 2:22.04 to eclipse 28 seconds from fancied Kheta Ram’s record of 2:2.32 set in 2015. The other fancied names in the full marathon are Jabalpur Armyman Sanaton Singh, who has a personal best of 2:20.11, ASI’s Bhram Prakash, who clocked 2:24.06 while winning the NSG Marathon in Delhi, Anu Sathyadas, winner of the Rourkee Marathon and G B Patle

The men’s half marathon will be spearheaded by Kalidas Hirave, who has a season’s best timing of 1:03.27, clocked while winning the BSF Half Marathon in Delhi. Also in the fray will be Pradeep Singh, who clocked 1:04.34 at ADHM 2017, Man Singh who clocked 1:04.39 at the IDBI HM and National camper Govind Singh, who clocked 1:05.49 at ADHM 2017, besides Chandrakant Manwadhkar and Savhin Patil of the Railways.

The women’s half marathon will also have a strong field and should see stiff competition between Swati Gadhave and Monika Atahare, who clocked 1:15.21 and 11:15.36 at ADHM 2017. The other strong contenders are Monika Raut, Meenakshi Patil and Manisha Salunkhe.

The event will also see participation from senior police officials, among them, Anup Kumar Singh, IPS, Special IG (Maharashtra), Manjunath Singe, IPS, SP (Palghar), Namrata Patil (SPS), Add. SP (NIA), Maya Patole (Deputy Collector), Jayant Bajbale DYSP (Palghar) and Satish Devkate, DDR. Besides these, 12 participants from NIA and 8 from the ACB, Mumbai will also be seen in action.

“It gives me great pleasure to announce complete preparedness on behalf of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation to host another successful edition of the Indiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon on December 10, 2017. The entire machinery of the corporation, in association with the Vasai Taluka Kala Kreeda Vikas Mandal and event promoters Aryanz Sports PR & Events, has been working relentlessly to provide the best possible facilities and a memorable running experience to the thousands of participants who have registered for the event. A traffic free route has been planned for the duration of the event, with controlled movement of vehicles in emergency situations and personnel from all departments will be on hand to help in the smooth conduct of the event,” said the Honourable Mayor Madam Praveen Thakur.

Battle Run: The 2nd edition of The Battle Run, an exclusive event for running clubs in the country, introduced by title sponsor Indiabulls Home Loans will see participation from a total of 32 teams in the half marathon and the 5 km Dash.

The fastest running club in the half marathon Battle Run will be awarded a rolling trophy and prize money of Rs 1.50 lakhs, while the runner-up team and third placed team will take home Rs 90,000 and Rs 60,000 respectively.

The winners of the 5km Dash will be richer by Rs 45,000, followed by Rs 30,00 and Rs 15,000 to the second and third-placed teams.

Race Timings: The Full Marathon will be flagged off from New Viva College, Virar W at 6.00 am, while the Half Marathon will be flagged off from Vasai West at 6.30 am. The 11Km Run will be flagged off from New Viva College at 6.15 am, while the 5km Dash Battle Run will be flagged off at 6.45 am, also from New Viva College. All the junior age category events, along with the runs for senior citizens as well as the Dhamaal Dhaav will be flagged off from New Viva College.

Special Marathon Train: Western Railway has announced a special train for the Indiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon, which will leave Churchgate Station at 3.00 a.m. and reach Vasai and Virar at 4.23 am and 4.31 am respectively, after stopping at all stations. Free transport will be provided to all participants from Vasai Station and Virar Stations to the respective start points.

Facilities on Race Route: 30,000 litres of water will be distributed through a total of 24 stations and 15,000 litres of Enerzal through ten energy drink stations. There will also be six Orange stations and cool sponge stations on the second leg of the Full Marathon and the Half Marathon. Medical Base Camps will be set up at the finish points of the Full Marathon and Half Marathon as well as the 11KM Run. There will also be 13 medical stations along the route.

The Medical Base Camps and Medical Stations will be manned by Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road and doctors from the Virar Medical Association and will be stocked with ice packs, first aid kits, pain relief sprays as well as energy drinks. Ten fully equipped ambulances as well as doctors on motorbikes will be patrolling the race route to provide timely medical assistance in case of an emergency.ENDS

Website:  www.vvmcmayorsmarathon.com

About the Author

Sachin Murdeshwar
Sachin Murdeshwar is a Sr.Journalist and Columnist in several Mainline Newspapers and Portals.He is an ardent traveller and likes to explore destinations to the core.