Anil Korni, Roopali conquer monsoon marathon challenge

Former Indian Cricketer, Zaheer Khan along with his wife, actress Sagarika Ghatge flagged off the Kanakia Monsoon Marathon Challenge (KMMC) 2018 at Jio Garden, Bandra Kurla Complex on Sunday morning. The off-season race in its seventh edition included Half Marathon, 10km and 5km races.

The 21km Half Marathon saw Anil Korni emerging at the top in the men’s category, with the best timing of 01:16:52 and Roopali Mehta in the women’s category clocking a time of 01:35:54. Additionally, the 10km men’s category had Kartik Karkira completing the run with the best time of 00:34:38 and Simta Sharma completing it with the best time of 00:43:50.

The KMMC 2018 also had runners participating in the 5 km run with Saurabh Bhandari with the best time of 00:17:51 in the men’s category and Parina Prakash Khilari with the best time of 00:20:23 in the women’s category.

Over 3500 participants took the BKC G Block roads in the wee hours of the  rainy day. These included 500 participants in the half marathon, 2500 in the 10km category and 500 in the 5km race. Around 55 kids between the age of 10 to 17 years also competed with each other.

All the marathoners across Maharashtra were eyeing to get a good time in for the upcoming International marathons, and this motivated them to give their best shot.  

“It is a good initiative as monsoon is generally considered off-season for marathons. It is a new thinking and seeing the excitement from the participants towards fitness and running is good omen for healthy India,” Zaheer said.

Mumbai Suburban District Athletics Association representative Arthur Fernandes praised organisers RunIndiaRun for smooth conduct. “Almost every Sunday there are races happening in the city but this one has been organised in an efficient way. The route was clear and there were many alert volunteers to guide. The chest numbers were prominent and record of timings was done professionally,” Fernandes said.

“Usually marathon organisers take permission from Mumbai Suburban Athletics Association and Mumbai City Athletics Association, but here organisers had brought Maharashtra Athletics Association also on board which enabled marathoners from across Maharashtra, especially Kolhapur to participate,” he added.

Many corporate employees participated for the first time including Abhinav Bhatnagar from Tata Consultancy Services. “It was a great experience to run in the rains. I was impressed with my timing,” said Bhatnagar.