Sports & Allied News
JAMMU, Oct 14:
‘Rajouri Marathon 2018’ was organised by Army. The event was primarily focused towards the populace of Rajouri, Naushera and Poonch District to promote the primary message of ‘Peace and Harmony’. Furthermore, the imperatives of health consciousness and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan under the motto of ‘Swacch Rajouri, Swasth Rajouri aur Sundar Rajouri’ were also propagated. The event saw overwhelming response from civilians and defence personnel in diversified age categories as more than 800 people put on their running shoes and set their foot on the running tracks early in the morning. The grand finale was graced by scores of dignitaries from military, para military, civil administration, police and political arenas who were there to participate in the gala event.
The run was primarily organised into three different categories as per the length of the route and was further categorised into various age groups. It was overwhelming to see that the youngest runner was aged a mere 8 years while the veterans were led by a 61 year old marathoner.
The entire town joined the celebrations by lining up all along the designated route and cheering the runners.
The entire venue gave appearance of a festive celebration with colourful and joyful faces dancing on to the tunes of Zumba for the warmup and showcasing exhilarating enthusiasm for the run right till the finish line.
The participants were in for a delightful experience as all of them were presented with T shirts and participation medals. There were numerous cash incentives as well, wherein the First prize in 10 km category of Rupees 10,000/- was won by Mr Mandeep and Mr Choudhary Iftekar Ahmed in their respective age groups.
Similarly first prize in 5 km category of Rupees 5,000/- was won by Mr Balwinder Singh while 3 km category was led by Mr Manzoor Hussain and Mr Mukhtiyar Hussain. The festivities ended with a grand closing ceremony and sumptuous meal organised by the Army.
The ‘Rajouri Marathon’ furthered the sense of mutual trust and belongingness between various strata of the society and was a live example of Unity in Diversity. The notions of fitness, health consciousness and Swachhta were further reinforced through this platform in all residents especially in the hearts and minds of the youth of this region.
