Guwahati: There could not have been any better inaugural edition of the Tawang marathon, a mega sporting event jointly organised by the Indian Army and the Arunachal Pradesh government at Arunachal Pradesh’s scenic district of Tawang on Sunday.
The event, a first of its kind in the entire northeast, saw enthusiastic participation by the locals and runners from all over the country.
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A total of 25 states of the country were represented by passionate runners who participated in four race categories; marathon, half marathon, 10 kilometres and five kilometers run.
The local participation, especially by the youth, their support and enthusiasm for the event, was phenomenal to put it mildly.
Conducting a marathon in a high-altitude of 10,000 feet above the sea level, that too, with a disadvantage of long travel time to the nearest airport and railway network, was indeed challenging.
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Therefore, the high participation achieved would have been inconceivable to the organisers who had been planning the event for over 11 months.
Against an aim of crossing 1,500 to 2,000 participants in the inaugural marathon, the numbers achieved were; valid registrations-2,463 (including 543 women), participants reported-2,343 (including 511 women), 42 kilometres-114 (including seven women), 21 kilometres-314 (including 10 women), 10 kilometres-563 (including 21 women) and five kilometers-1,352 (including 473 women).
Apart from the Indian Army who organised the event, there was active participation by the Indian Navy with a 31-member team and the Indian Air Force (IAF) with a 12-member team at the event. All the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) including the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) also sent in their teams.
According to some of the reputed ace marathoners who participated in the event, the Tawang marathon was one of the most challenging high-altitude marathons in the country but the insistence by the organisers on proper acclimatisation period for all the outstation runners paid well with only three Did Not Finish (DNF) in the complete event.
The weather Gods were also in a good mood and the runners enjoyed a pleasant day of running under excellent running conditions.
The category wise winners of the Tawang marathon are; full marathon-Arjun Pradhan (Indian Army) and Priyanaka Kanwar, half marathon-Prem Kumar and Aarti Bardhan,10 kilometres-Ramesh Kumar and Rajshree M and five kilometers-Ankul Kumar and Tenzin Choikey.
While Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju presided over as the chief guest in the event, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Arunachal East MP Tapir Gao and General Officer Commanding (GOC), Gajraj Corps, Lieutenant General Manish Erry were the guest of honour.
Speaking at the event, Lieutenant General Erry said, “After a good beginning, I am sure that with each passing year, the event will draw more and more participation not only from India and not just the amateur runners but also some of the most competent runners joining us at Tawang. This event will benefit the local economy by pulling in more and more tourists, adventure seekers and ultra-athletes. I hope that the event has achieved its aim of putting Tawang on the marathon calendar prominently.”
Happy with the success achieved by the inaugural edition of the Tawang marathon, Chief Minister Pema Khandu appreciated the efforts put in by the organisers and announced that this will be an annual fixture now. The Chief Minister also spoke about plans to encourage adventure activities and adventure tourism in the region as such activities not only helps the tourism sector but also the businesses in a host of associated activities like generating employment for the local youth. He said that the event will also highlight the region’s rich cultural heritage to the wide world even more prominently.
Kiren Rijiju while congratulating the organizers, especially the Indian Army, for an excellent conduct of the event, also lauded the enthusiastic local participation and hoped that the event will not only put Tawang on the world marathon map but also set up a tradition of many such sporting events annually.
The historic marathon coincided with the Swachh Bharat Campaign which saw the participants and the audience cleaning the stadium premises, from where the marathon was flagged off, with active participation even by the dignitaries including Chief Minister Khandu.