The Pune International Marathon will be conducted by the Pune International Marathon Trust (PIMT) under the aegis of the Athletic Federation of India (AFI).

PIMT Chairman and city Suresh Kalmadi, who is also the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), on Wednesday told a press conference that the event conducted as a "Race against AIDS" will feature long distance runners from 23 countries.

 The annual event, having caught the imagination of the people will also have over 50,000 runners in various age groups for boys and girls, offering a total prize money of Rs 25 lakh.

The athletes from Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, Sweden, United Kingdom, South Africa, Ukraine, Denmark, Germany, Slovenia, Scotland, Russia, Kazakistan, Pakistan, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Nepal, Slovkia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Mauritius and hosts, India will be taking part in this marathon.

More ove r, 30,000-odd runners have confirmed their participation in various age groups. About 100 physically challenged are participating in the wheel-chair event. Around 7,000 middle distance runners will take part in the men's 10 km event.

Some wanted to run, some were keen on rubbing shoulders with celebrities and the rest were enthusiastic about watching the spectacular event. With people from all walks of life joining in with zest, not only at the starting point of the run but also welcoming the athletes and other participants throughout its route in the city, the Hutch Pune international marathon surely emerged the winner on Sunday.

Participants from around 14 countries vied for cash prizes of up to Rs 20 lakh, with Said Regragoui of Sweden and Hellen Nzembi Musyoka of Kenya winning the men's full marathon and women's half marathon respectively.

Sangeeta Khandagale, a 48-yearold mother of five from the Bopodi slums, came first in the veteran women's category for the fourth time. She finished the 3-km race in 15 minutes flat.

The early Sunday morning event also saw over 10,000 people participating in the AIDS Charity Run, which had celebrities, students, corporates, NGOs and others. Tiny tots tagging behind their parents shared the running space with enthusiastic senior citizens, with the oldest being a 94-year-old man.

The run
The Marathon will have seven categories of runners. Participants in the wheelchair race (3 km) will be flagged off at 7.15 am, followed by those in the men's marathon category (42.195 km). The women's marathon (21.1 km), 10-kilometre run (men and women) and the under-19 (7.8 km), under-17 (5.5 km) and under-15 (4.4 km) categories will follow.

The senior citizens' run, covering a distance of 3 km will be flagged off after that and the AIDS Charity Run will be flagged off at 8.30 am.

The route
All categories will begin at the Khandojibaba Chowk and the men's marathon and AIDS Charity Run will finish at Nehru Stadium.

The women's marathon and 10-km race will culminate at Bund Garden, the under-17 category will finish at Idgah Maidan opposite Pune Cantonment Board, under-19 group will finish at B J Medical College and the finish-line for the under-15 category will be Seven Loves Chowk. The senior citizens' group and the wheelchair race will finish at Modern Bakery, Nana Peth.

The people
While political bigwigs like Narayan Rane will cheer the participants, others likely to be present are actors Rahul Bose, Vinod Khanna, Mahima Chaudhuri and Mandira Bedi.

Hockey stars Dhanraj Pillay and Zafar Iqbal, Olympians Adille Sumariwala, Balkrishna Akotkar and Edward Sequiera will also be present at the event.

Pune will also play host to 44 athletes from 15 countries who will participat in the marathon, including last year's winners Josphat Ndeti from Kenya he completed the run in 2 hours 19 minutes and Russian Naila Youlimanova.

Other athletes like 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Francis Naali from Tanzania, Douglas Guandaru from Kenya and Gemechu Kebede from Ethiopia will also don their running shoes. "If the weather remains cool, like it has been these few days, the runners are likely to give great timings," said Sudhir Ghate, in-charge of the foreign athlete delegation for the marathon.

Facilities
Feeding and sponging points have been set-up every 2.5 km and medical facilities have also been beefed up this year -- mobile clinics and medical aid standpoints will be set up at every km.

Highlights
The number of participants in the 10-km race is expected to cross 7,000 almost twice the number that participated last year.

• 40 marathoners from 16 countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Russia, Ethiopia, Germany, Denmark, Japan, Scotland, Sweden, UK, Nepal, Mauritius, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka and hosts India
• over 30,000 runners
• cash prizes of upto Rs. 20 lakh
• AIDS Charity Run, a race to spread social awareness about HIV / AIDS is one of the highlights of this international marathon. This fun run for a cause, got tremendous response in the last year from Punekars. People from all walks of life participated in large numbers. Mr. Hemant Naiknavare and Mrs. Alpana Kirloskar, Chairman and Convener of the ACR committee respectively said that this event was a great hit last year. Celebrities like Varsha Usgaonkar, Amrita Thapar, Yukta Mookhey, Nargis, Zeenat Aman, Aditi Govitrikar from the film industry, sports stars like tennis ace Leander Paes and “Rustom-e-Hind” Harishchandra Birajdar. The oldest participant at above 90 years, was Dr. K. B. Grant.

• Gwandaru clocked a timing of 2 hours 2 minutes and 2 seconds to win the full marathon of 42.195 kms. He was awarded prize money of Rs 2.5 lakh, a certificate and a medal. Patrick Mashani Wairagi (Kenya) and Vladamir Kotov (South Africa) came second and third, with a timing of 2:22:06 minutes and 2:22:56 minutes respectively.
• Mula clocked 1:11:59 to win the half marathon for women and was awarded Rs one lakh, a certificate and a medal. Timafeiva Irina of Russia (1:12:05) and Borisova Tatiana of Kyrgyztan (1:12:36) took the next two positions.

NUMBER GAME

• 42.195 :total km to be run in the full marathon
• 30,000: expected turn out for Sunday’s run
• 26: foreign runners in fray (20 men, 6 women)
• 11: countries make the field (Kenya, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Tajikstan, Kyrgistan, South Africa, Japan and Sri Lanka)

OLYMPIC long jumper Anju Bobby George and tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi are among the many celebrities who will be a part of the run. From veteran actress Rati Agnihotri to 80-year-old cardiologist Dr KB Grant — a host of well know personalities from various walks of life are set to swarm the route. Singers Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Babul Supriyo and composers Jatin-Lalit will be singing along the route.

Deccan Gymkhana — Sonya Maruti Chowk — Nana Peth — Sonawane Hospital — Cantonment Ground (finishing point for boys/girls U-17, wheelchair race) — MG Road — BJ Medical College Ground (finishing point for boys U-19) — Bund Garden (finishing point for men/women 10kms) — Parnakruti Police Station — Deccan College — BEG Family Welfare Centre — Ambedkar Road — Khadki Bazar — Cosmos Bank — Bhau Patil Road — Rashtriya Krushi Board — Bremen Chowk (finishing point for men/women half marathon)

CUT OFF POINT FOR MAIN MARATHON (1hr 30 min)

Cosmos Bank, Aundh — National Society Gate No. 2, Baner Road — Sakal Nagar — Laxmi Sahakari Bank, Senapati Bapat Road — Symbiosis Gate No. 2 — Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute — Dasbhuja Ganpati — Gulavani Maharaj Road — Patankar Hospital, Erandwane — Dattawadi — Dandekar Pool — Marathon Bhavan — YB Chavan Chowk — Vivekananda statue, Satara Road — City Pride — Dr Karne Hospital — Nehru Stadium

For Your Information:

• Participants to assemble at 7.30 am
• Marathon begins: 8.15 am
• For those who miss the action: All India Radio (AIR) and DD Sports to telecast live between 8 am and 9.30 am
• Repeat telecast: 6 pm

I am a software engineer working in Hinjewadi, Pune.

I want to participate in the marathon and have been consistently looking for information on the net. It seems that the info about the marathon is not updated.

When I called the organising committee, they asked me to collect the forms from Nehru Stadium. My office is far away from the stadium and hence I couldn't collect my form and register for the marathon.

An online application form could have been a better option.

-Pranav

Coinciding with the International AIDS week, the main attraction of the event will be a 3.5-km-long celebrity run which is likely to generate AIDS awareness among the masses, said the Pune International Marathon Trust (PIMT) chairman Suresh Kalmadi. He added, ‘‘Around 30,000 runners in various age groups are expected to take part in the event. From this year, we have named the marathon as race against AIDS.’’

Besides, the main marathon event will have long distance runners from across the globe. ‘‘So far 12 countries (including last year’s winners Kenya) have confirmed their participation,’’ Kalmadi informed. The foreign countries include Sri Lanka, Poland, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Tajikstan, Germany, Australia, Denmark, Mauritius and Nepal. Each country will be sending five long distance runners in both the men’s and women’s sections.

The celebrity run will start off at Deccan Gymkhana and pass through Laxmi Road, Sarasbaug and end at Sanas ground. Convenor of the celebrity run, Arati Kirloskar said, ‘‘They are planning to rope in theatre, sports and film personalities.’’ The men’s marathon winner will bag a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakhs, whereas the women’s winner will get Rs 1 lakh.

Apart from the men’s full marathon and women’s half marathon, age group races (boys Under17/19, girls U-15/17, men’s half marathon of 10-km and veteran’s) will also be conducted.

Editor's Note: The race is set for December 19, 2004.

1. When do forms get posted electronically?
   
2. The website: puneinternationalmarathon.com does not work
   
3. Suggest an alternate source of information?

I am Pravin from Pune and I would like to know when the pune international marathon is going to be held this year.

I would also like to know the normal distance of this marathon and how much is it going to be this year. If possible , it would be really nice if u could tell me the route too.

Thank you

Pravin