Celebrating its fourteenth year in the city, the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon was flagged off on Sunday from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Jai Singh Marg near the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Building.
While one phase of the marathon was flagged off by athlete Adille Sumariwalla, former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes was also present at the event to encourage participants.
Over 34,000 marathoners are participating in different categories of the marathon to bag the USD 280,000 prize money. The categories include Half Marathon, Open 10K Run, Great Delhi Run, Senior Citizens' Run, and the Champions with Disability.
Speaking about the marathon, a participant, Vinod Sherawat, told ANI that fitness is key to participate in a marathon. "This is the second time I am participating in the marathon. However, I was unable to achieve the target I had set in mind for this marathon. Fitness is important for a marathon. I have practised a lot for this day," he added.
As the air quality continues to remain in poor category, the national capital was found to be engulfed in haze on the event day.
Keeping the quality of air in mind, anti-pollution measures have been taken. Patented ecologically-safe technology is being used, such as Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radio pulses, which will be concentrated over the course to catalyse clearance of air pollutants primarily through dry deposition
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While the previous editions used a mixture of salt and water to achieve better suspended particulate matter (SPM) precipitation, ecologically safe reagents are being used this year.
Furthermore, the deployment schedule has been increased and dust hotspots have been identified for extensive spraying. Mist fans have been deployed at various heights and live spraying of up to 20 feet is being done to increase the precipitation of SPM.
This IAAF Gold Label Race is known to be one of the fastest courses in the world and has become a permanent fixture for world-class athletes and India's best.
The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon starts and ends at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, after looping through some of the iconic locations of Lutyen's Delhi such as India Gate, Parliament House, Lodhi Garden, and the lush green stretch of the Delhi Golf Club.