A record 20,000 runners have already registered for the seventh edition of the Hyderabad Airtel Marathon to be held in the City on August 20, according to Race Director Abhijeet Madnurkar.
And, 3500 of the competitors will be from outside Hyderabad and thereby reaffirming the City’s marathon as one of the premier and professionally organized events in the country itself, he said.
The Marathon, being held in coordination with Hyderabad Runners Society and the Telangana Government with the twin objective of raising funds for the under-privileged, has also attracted 50 NGOs which is a 400% increase over last year and is expected to raise a welfare fund of about ₹70 lakh.
Partner NGOs
Some of the NOGs involved include Vidhya, Aarohi Blood Bank, Grace Cancer Foundation, Heal a Child, Humane Society International/India, Mohan Foundation, Operation Eye Sight and Project 511.
“The novelty of this whole show is the participation of 1300 charity runners representing one charity or the other thereby making it the biggest in this regard,” Mr. Abhijeet said.
Chief executive officer Bharti Airtel (AP & Telangana) Venkatesh Vijayraghavan and Mr. Abhijeet unveiled the corporate trophy to formally launch the showpiece event.
“We always looked at this Marathon as more than a business partnership and we take pride in being associated with this which has gained a reputation one of being one of the best organized and most professionally run events in India,” Mr. Venkatraghavan said.
The prize money for the seventh edition is ₹ 7.2 lakhs for the winner in Elite (male and female categories), half-marathon and 10K Run categories. And, the 5K Run on August 19 is classified as a Free Run with no prize money.