The State Mission for De-addiction, Vimukthi, under the Excise Department, organised the Cochin Monsoon Marathon to raise awareness against drug abuse on Saturday.
The event, supported by the district administration and the Kochi Corporation, was titled ‘Let’s run against drugs’ and was flagged off at 5.30 a.m.
It included an approximately 21-km half-marathon from Maharaja’s College Ground to Willingdon Island and back and a shorter ‘fun run’ that was open to the public.
The runs were flagged off by dignitaries, including Minister for Excise T.P. Ramakrishnan, Excise Commissioner Rishi Raj Singh, and District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla. While the half-marathon saw the participation of over 1,200 people, more than 4,000 persons took part in the fun run. There were separate runs in several categories, including that for the differently-abled.
As many as eight Kenyans and an American also took part in the half-marathon.
Kenyan national Issac Duoro won the half-marathon and took home a cash prize of ₹50,000. The prize was presented by Mr. Singh and Hibi Eden, MLA, Ernakulam.