By IANS
Mumbai : The lazy Sunday morning seemed almost surreal with a mellow sun lighting the sky. It was a picturesque backdrop for 33,000 people, who put on their jogging shoes for the fifth Standard Charted Mumbai Marathon, reputedly Asia’s largest race with a prize money of $1 million.
From corporate honchos to the glitterati, sports enthusiasts to senior citizens, physically-challenged to Mumbai policemen – everyone came under one umbrella to test their stamina on the streets of Mumbai.
Celebrity couple John Abraham and Bipasha Basu added glamour to the run. Among the runners was industrialist Anil Ambani, a regular at the Mumbai marathon.
Defending champion John Kelai of Kenya won the Mumbai marathon in the men’s category clocking 2:12:22 while Ethiopian Mulu Seboka bagged the first place in the women’s category. Ram Singh Yadav was declared the “fastest Indian”.
Kumar Arun and Kavita Raut won the half marathon in the men’s and women’s categories respectively. Several participants from the US, Germany, Lebanon, Brazil, Peru and Russia made their debut in the race.
While professional athletes ran the full-marathon, many were in the fray for the 21-km half-marathon.
People ran for different causes – to save the environment, AIDS awareness, disability organisations and world peace.
This year saw active participation from senior citizens, who matched their younger counterparts in both enthusiasm and stamina.
Actors Shabana Azmi, Arshad Warsi and Diya Mirza, along with industrialist Anil Ambani’s wife Tina Ambani, flagged off the senior citizens’ marathon at 8.10 a.m.
Congress MP and actor Sanjay Dutt’s sister Priya Dut flagged off the wheelchair run for the disabled.
According to an organiser, about Rs.80 million had been raised through people running for different charities last year. The event organisers hope to spread the message of saving the environment by asking people to pledge their support to the cause.
The run was flagged off at 6.45 a.m. near the Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus in south Mumbai. The 42-km full-marathon stretched through the business district of south Mumbai, along the promenade flanked on either side by the Arabian Sea and high-rise buildings.
Tracing a route through the city to Worli and suburban Bandra, the race culminated where it started.