Pune Gears Up For 38th International Marathon: Night Race Begins At 3 AM On December 1
Pune Gears Up For 38th International Marathon: Night Race Begins At 3 AM On December 1
The 38th Pune International Marathon will be a ‘Night Marathon’ and the competition will start at 3 am on Sunday, December 1 from Sanas Maidan.
The main marathon will be flagged off at 3.00 am and the half marathon at 3.30 am from Sanas Maidan. The 10 km competition will start at 6.30 am, the 5 km competition at 7.00 am and the wheelchair competition at 7.15 am and the prize distribution ceremony of the competition will be held at Sanas Ground at 8.30 am.
Senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Chandra Pawar, MP Supriya Sule, Union Minister of State Muralidhar Mohol, MP Prof. Medha Kulkarni, MLA Bapu Pathare, Adv. Vandana Chavan, Ravindra Dhangekar, Municipal Commissioner Dr. Rajendra Bhosale and industrialist Vishal Chordia will be present as the chief guests. The winners of the competition will be given total prizes of Rs 35 lakh by the Pune Municipal Corporation. This year’s slogan is ‘Run for a sustainable environment’.
This year, the full marathon of 42.195 km with two rounds, Sanas Ground – Sarasbagh – Swatantryaveer Savarkar Statue – Sinhagad Marg – Nanded City and back, and a half marathon with one round on the same route will be completed. More than 12,000 runners will run in this race, including about 80 foreign competitors. Apart from this, the Runners of the Army, BEG, ASI, Railways as well as the winners of the Kargil International Marathons will also attract attention.
The preparations for this competition have been completed and around 2,500 volunteers, more than 500 technical officers, police and traffic police, Dr. Rajendra Jagtap’s Disaster Management team, 200 doctors from Bharati Vidyapeeth, Symbiosis, Navale Hospital, Sancheti Hospital etc., 250 nurses, 108 ambulances on the route, water, energy drinks, sponging facilities, ample lighting scheme and setting up a mini hospital at Sanas Ground etc. The final touches are being put on the preparations.
This year, 50 bicycle pilots of the Cycloholics organisation will pilot the runners on the competition route, 50 national and international umpires of the Pune District Amateur Athletics Association will take care of the technical aspects of the competition, preparing the final results. etc. Electronic timing system mats, sensors will also be installed on the competition route and the start, turning point, finish line.
Most of the foreign runners reached Pune on Friday and these foreign women and men runners practiced at Sanas Ground after 5 pm on Friday. T-shirts, caps, and chest numbers have been given to all participating athletes.
Pune International Marathon Trust President Adv. Abhay Chhajed and Joint Race Director Rohan More Appealed the public bodies and citizens along the route to welcome this ‘Night Marathon’, which will put Pune’s name prominently on the international sports map.
