Thousands participate in Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Half Marathon

Bhubaneswar: The much-awaited Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Half Marathon, the only professional run of the city organized by the steel major in association with Odisha Sports and Youth Services Department, was held on Sunday.

The Half Marathon witnessed participation of nearly 3200 running enthusiasts. The crowned winners were felicitated by Tourism minister Ashok Panda and other dignitaries.

 

Jhuma Khatun and Man Singh were the winners in female and male category respectively in 21.1 km half marathon and were awarded Rs 100, 000 each in presence of Vishal Dev,  Sports and Youth Services Secretary, local MP Prasanna Patsanai, and MLAs Priyadarshi Mishra, Bijaya Mohanty.

Ollywood stars Sabyasachi Mishra, Archita Sahu, sportsperson Anuradha Biswal, Sradhanjali Samantray were also present.

The half-marathon (21.1km) was flagged off at Kalinga Stadium in presence of Vishal Dev, T N Khuntia, DIG, CRPF Group Centre Bhubaneswar, Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel; Arun Misra, Vice President, Project Gopalpur & MD, Tata Steel SEZ,

Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Half Marathon covered a distance of 21.1 km.  Starting from Kalinga stadium, the run passed through Khandagiri Square before finally terminating at Kalinga Stadium. This was followed by a 10km run for corporates and 5 km run for boys and girls under 16 years of age.

Addressing participants, Dev told, “I thank Tata Steel for initiating such a large-scale sports event, which brought together people from all across Bhubaneswar and outside for their love of running and sports. I look forward to many such grand sporting events.”

Speaking on the occasion, Bhaskaran said, “Our aim is to make this one of the major running events in India and to see that over the years Bhubaneswar finds its spot among distance running in the country. Tata Steel is proud to bring this special sporting event in association with the Sports and Youth Services Department of Odisha.”

The Kalinga stadium wore a festive look as thousands, clad in white and blue t-shirts, including senior government officers, corporate executives, students from various institutions and schools ran in different categories while the crowd cheered for them. Awards worth Rs 9,14,000 (excluding applicable taxes) were given to winners in different categories.