Over 2,000 Kochites from all age groups took part in the inaugural Kochi Navy Marathon, conducted by the Southern Naval Command here today.
The event was conducted for different age groups under three categories namely the Venduruthy Run (21.1 km), the Dronacharya Run (10 km) and the Garuda Run (5 km).
The Venduruthy and Dronacharya runs were so planned for them to partly pass through the picturesque and historic Naval base.
The main event, the Venduruthy Run, was flagged off by Vice Admiral AR Karve, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command and legendary athlete PT Usha, Padmashri.
The Dronacharya and Garuda Runs were flagged off by Rear Admiral R J Nadkarni, Chief of Staff and Surg Rear Admiral G Vishwanath, Command Medical Officer respectively.
Usha, also made a symbolic participation by running a short distance along with the runners of Dronacharya run.
Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Karve brought out the fact that running is a simple, inexpensive and 'easily accessible-to-all' physical activity.
He also highlighted the fact that events like this marathon were great unifiers since they bring people from all strata of society together in challenging their physical abilities.
Usha said that overwhelming participation by the public in marathons such as this was an encouraging sign as running keeps the entire body fit.
Jairesh Yadav, Seaman Ist class (Sea I) of the Indian Navy and Sepoy Malkeet Singh, won the 21.1km and 10km runs in the male category with timings of 01:23:52 hours and 34:40 min respectively.
While, in the female category, Merina Mathew and Priya Gangadharan won these events with timings of 01:54:44 hrs and 48:03 min respectively, a Defence release said here.
The Garuda Run was won by Sardar Singh, Senior Secondary Recruit (SSR) of the Indian Navy and Ishika Barak in the male and female categories respectively, it added.
All finishers were awarded with medals, in addition to special prizes for the top three in each age group and category.
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