Eighth edition of Vizag Navy Marathon a runaway hit

Vizag Navy Marathon: 12K+ runners take part in 8th edition.

The eighth edition of ‘Vizag Navy Marathon’ received a overwhelming response in the city. The Beach Road witnessed a sea of people as over 12,000 participants enthusiastically took part in the run along the scenic Beach Road stretch.

People from all ages, including children, women, youth, senior citizens, and naval personnel from all over India and abroad, attended the programme in various categories. A number of citizens along with their families have attended the event since the early morning to witness the run. Participants took selfies at the beginning point of the run track and exchanged them in the social media.

The full marathon 42.2 km was flagged off by Flag Officer, Commanding in Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, with more than 500 participants. The half marathon 21.1 km was flagged off by Director General Naval Projects (DGNP Vizag), Vice Admiral G. Srinivasan with more than 1,600 runners. About 2,700 runners took part in the 10km run and it was flagged off by Commissioner of Police A. Ravi Shankar. The five-km run recorded a participation of over 7,000 runners and was flagged off by Chief of Staff, ENC, Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena.

The races for the marathon have started from The Park Hotel Circle, RK Beach, towards Naval Coastal Battery, and took a U-turn near Kalimata temple at RK Beach. The 5K run was finished at MGM Park. Runners of other category races took part in the run towards INS Kalinga. The 10K runners took a U-turn near Tenneti Park while half marathon runners took a u-turn near Gayatri College near Rushikonda. The full marathon runners took a u-turn near Cheppala Uppada near INS Kalinga. All races have finished at MGM Park, VMRDA.

In the men’s open category, Sikandar Tadakhe clocking 2h 30 min, Deepak Kumbhar clocking 1h 06 min, and Sonu Kushwa clocking 31 min, emerged winners in full marathon, half marathon and 10 km run respectively. In the women’s category Aasa TP, clocking 3h 08 min, Lilian Rutto, clocking 1h 24 min and Lanka Mery Grace, clocking 44 min, won full marathon, half marathon and 10 km race, respectively.

For the convenience of the runners, hydration and refreshment points were arranged at many places along the Beach Road stretch. A large number of citizens cheered up the runners along the route at various places. Medical points and mobile medical units were arranged at various places. A ceremony was organised to distribute prizes to the winners at VMRDA Park. Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar attended the programme as the chief guest and gave away the prizes to the winners along with senior naval officers, District Collector A. Mallikarjuna and other dignitaries.