Arunachal Pradesh Minister for Public Health Engineering (PHE) and Parliamentary Affairs, Bamang Felix on Tuesday appealed to the students and youth of the State to take up sports for a healthy life and also to build a career out of it.
Felix said this while flagging off a mini marathon on the theme, ‘Run for Sports’ at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium at Naharlagun early Tuesday morning.
Altogether 480 took part in the 12 km run from the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium to the Sports Complex at Yupia. However, the online registration recorded around 800 entries.
The participants were mostly from Rajiv Gandhi University, Sangey Lhaden Sports Academy, Sports Association of India, Donyi Polo Mission School for the Hearing and Visually Impaired, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel, Arunachal Pradesh Police personnel and students from various schools of the capital complex.
The run was organized by the State Department of Sports and was open for all.
Earlier addressing the gathering, Sports Director Tadar Appa informed that the mini marathon has been launched to encourage and motivate people of all ages and backgrounds to improve their mental and physical health.
The winners were given cash prize of Rs 50,000, a trophy and certificate. The second and third place winners were given cash prizes of Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively along with trophies and certificates.
Winners were selected from both men and women category.
Later, the first ever seminar on sports of the State was also organized by the Directorate of Sports.
Two time Paralympic gold medallist Devendra Jhanjharia, Arjuna awardee wushu player Bimoljit Singh, and world record holder Everester Anshu Jamsenpa presented motivational speeches for the participants.
Sports medicine specialist, Dr Rajat Chauhan also spoke on sports medicine, while sports psychologist Maurelle Dsouza spoke on the specialized subject.