Prince Kumar of Saharanpur gets first prize in half marathon

Varanasi: Prince Kumar of Saharanpur bagged the first prize after facing a tough competition in the fifth half marathon organised in the memory of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar in Ballia on Wednesday. Chandan Rajbhar and Ranjit Patel of Varanasi got the second and third prize, respectively.
The UP transport minister Dayashankar Singh honoured the winners by giving trophies at the prize distribution ceremony organised at the Ganga Multipurpose Auditorium. Singh gave the prize of Rs one lakh to Prince Kumar, Rs 51, 000 to Chandan Rajbhar, and Rs 25,000 to Ranjit Patel.
A total of 728 runners had registered for the fifth Chandrashekhar Half Marathon of 21 km from Patpar Pachkhora to Veer Lorik Stadium. Apart from different states of the country, runners also came from Kenya, Ethiopia and Istanbul. The transport minister Dayashankar Singh along with Rajya Sabha member Neeraj Shekhar flagged off the half marathon.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that this half marathon will be organised by the state government in view of the great personality of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar. The secretary of the Rashtra Nayak Chandrashekhar Marathon Committee, Upendra Singh welcomed the participants and guests. tnn