Bollywood celebrities, the city’s glitterati, athletes and sportspersons from all across the world and hoards of citizens – they all came together to show solidarity and run for the 4th edition of the Jaipur Marathon on a bright Sunday morning.
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar flagged off the Marathon from the south gate of Ramniwas Garden. Along with the tourism minister Bina Kak, who is also the face of the Jaipur Marathon, actors Kajal Aggarwal, Mukesh Khanna, Sara Khan, Ashmit Patel, and cricketers Rahul Dravid, Sreesanth and Ashok Menaria joined in and cheered the crowd.
Akshay kept cheering the crowd by shouting “Jaipur, dil se daudo”.
Organised by Sanskriti Yuva Sansthan, with an aim to support healthy lifestyle, women empowerment, respect for women, and a clean and green city, the marathon was divided into two events – Jaipur International Half Marathon covering 21km and Dream Run covering 6km distance.
“Thousands of people from various walks of life came together on a single platform and ran for a cause,” said Suresh Mishra, convener of the event. Later, while talking to media, Akshay said, “I am very happy to be a part of such a huge initiative in Jaipur and surely this looks to be bigger than the Mumbai Marathon.”
Charles Maine, an athlete from Kenya bagged the first prize, taking home a cash prize of 3 lakh. Interestingly, the second and the third position too were bagged by athletes from Kenya, Amos Maindi and Yegondanviel Daniel, respectively.
src: TOI