Thousands participate in Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Half Marathon

Bhubaneswar: The fourth edition of the Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Half Marathon, organised at Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday, witnessed participation from 5,000 running enthusiasts from across the nation.

The only professional half marathon (21.1 km) run of the city organised by the steel major in association with Odisha Sports and Youth Services Department was flagged off by Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal.

The Half Marathon covered a distance of 21.1 km starting from Kalinga Stadium and moving on to the National Highway through Jaydev Vihar, past Khandagiri Square and returning via the same route, finally terminating at Kalinga Stadium.

This was followed by the 10 km run for women and men, and the 5 km run for girls and boys under 16 years of age. This year also saw the inspiring participation of differently-abled sports enthusiasts whose passion spurred other participants on.

To ensure the safety and comfort of all runners, Tata Steel organised ambulances and water counters along the route. The Commissionerate of Police played a significant role in traffic management.

State-of-the-art technology consisting of timing mats and its control units, radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, split timing mats on route, tracking camera, wi-fi network on route as per international standards were used to ensure a world standard conduct of the half marathon. All participants were given branded T-Shirts for participating in the race.