Vadodara, 5 February 2012

Gujarat Cheif Minister Shri Narendra Modi today flagged off the fifth edition of Vadodara half marathon that involved over 41,000 registered participants.The starting line event was organized at 6.05 AM on Vaccine ground located on Old Padra road. The Vadodara Marathon event witnessed participation of 37,000 people last year.

Speaking on the occasion, the Cheif Minister said, “In entire world, for last many years, the youth power associates itself with marathon. In Gujarat, the city of Vadodara started this before three years, as a small experiment. And one small experiment has today materialized in participation of as many as 41,000 runners. Such a big participation is witnessed without any celebrity here. Here is visible the participation of a common man in true sense. All youths have joined it. I congratulate this effort of Vadodaara, and I have full faith that running teaches you winning.”

Marathon event was organized in three categories; 5 km, 15 km and 21 km. While 5 km run was non-competitive witnessing participation of 36,500 people, the other two categories which were competitive witnessed presence of 4,400 participants.

A musical night of Sunidhi Chauhan has been organized in the evening today as a part of the Marathon event.

During the visit of the Chief Minister, city Congress workers were seen protesting with black flags in hand over the issue of faulty design of Lalbaug flyover. They were demanding to name the Lalbaug flyover as accident flyover. Police detained more than two dozen Congress workers to maintain law and order.

Today’s event saw participation of youths of Germany, France, Ethiopia, Kenya, Spain, Hungary. As many as half dozen garbage vans and 60 sweepers were seen cleaning the roads soon after the event.

🗃️ This story is from our archives and may contain outdated information.