Nearly 15,000 to run on January 6!

The last date for registering for the Sabarmati marathon, Tuesday, witnessed a huge rush of participants who were registering online as well as from civic centres across the city. The final figure is nearing 15,000, which is way ahead of last year’s figure of around 8,000.

The marathon seems to be becoming more popular with each year. Surprisingly, the entries which stood at around 3,000 four days ago jumped to around 15,000 on the last day. There has been an increase in number of participants in every category. The total number of participants registered for full marathon is more than 450; the figure was around 300 last year.

Similarly, the figures for half marathon, which were around 1,000 last year, have risen to 1,375 this year. The figures for dream run too have witnessed a substantial rise as compared to last year, from 8,000 to 13,000.

“Moreover, there will also be 53 visually impaired participants and 17 participants with wheelchairs who, with their high spirits will compete with the thousands,” said an official of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, requesting anonymity.

When asked to comment on the sudden increase of registrations in the last four days, the official of AMC said, “Around 150 international participants were added. Also, around 5,000 participants were added to the dream run category as many corporates, banks and NGOs registered in bulk.”

Before the marathon, the civic body will be distributing T-shirts, timing chips and chest numbers to the registered participants on January 4 and 5.