By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 24 Apr: The 9th edition of the World Earth Day Dehradun Half Marathon organised by Thrill Zone was flagged off from Pacific Mall by the Director-General of Police, Ashok Kumar, today. The theme of the half marathon was ‘Invest in Our Planet’.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life participated in the half marathon which comprised 21km, 10km, and 5km runs. The half marathon passed along Rajpur Road, Doon Helidrome and Sahastradhara Road, before returning to the starting point.
In the 21km male, 16-30 age category, Satpal was the winner; 30-40 age category, Pankaj Joshi grabbed the first position; 40-50 age category, Scott Britton bagged the first prize; and in 50+ age category, Jagdish Ram took first place. Similarly, in the 21km female 30-40 age category, Poonam Yadav bagged the first position; 40-50 age category, Shashi Mehta was the winner; and in the 50+ category, Meenakshi Joshi was first.
In the 10km male, under 18 age category, Saurabh Sharma bagged the first position; 18-40 age category, Lalit Arya was the winner; 40-50 age category, Dina Nath was first; and in 50+ age category, Shashi Diwakar took the first prize. In the 10km female under 18 age category, Richa Tanweer bagged the first prize; 18-40 age category Priyanka was the winner; 40-50 age category Preeti Sharma took first place; and in 50+ category Deepa Sethi bagged the first position.
The winners in the respective categories were awarded trophies and certificates on the occasion.
Congratulating the winners, Organiser PC Kushwaha said, “After nearly 2 years of a gap due to COVID, we are thrilled to be back with the 9th edition of Dehradun Half Marathon and to see the tremendous participation.”
More than 15 Para Athlete and Visually Impaired runners also took part.
At the end of the event, environment warriors, including Dr Kavita Shukla, Dr Surjeet Singh Khaira, Dr Nitin Pandey, JP Maithani, and Dr Brij Mohan Sharma were felicitated by the Chief Guest for their exemplary work in the field of environment conservation.
Executive Director, Pacific Group, Abhishek Bansal, said, “The motive behind hosting the marathon was to commemorate World Earth Day 2022, thus taking a pledge towards bringing back the lost glory of our town.” The President of Youth For Human Rights India, Dr Arjumand Zaidi, along with other dignitaries, was also present on the occasion.
The programme concluded with a tree plantation drive.
