Third edition of Kochi Navy Marathon held

The third edition of the Kochi Navy Marathon was held here on Sunday with over 3,500 taking part.

The event was organised by the Indian Navy as part of Navy Week activities.

The main event-the 21-km "Venduruthy Run" was flagged off by Vice Admiral AK Chawla, Flag Officer Commanding-in- Chief, Southern Naval Command.

The other two categories, the 10-km "Dronacharya Run" and 5-km "Garuda Run" were flagged off by Surgeon Rear Admiral Joy Chatterjee, Command Medical Officer, Rear Admiral RJ Nadkarni, Chief of Staff respectively, a Defence release said.

This year's marathon was organized with the aim of promoting twin initiatives-'Fit India' as well as 'Go Green," it said.

Over 3,500 people, all in green colour T-shirts forming a "Sea of Green" took part in the run, the release said.

Vice Admiral Chawla expressed his delight at the overwhelming response received for the third edition of the Navy Marathon.

He reiterated the importance of being health conscious and "Fit India" and "Go Green" initiatives being supported by the marathon.

The marathon saw active participation of people from all walks of life, both military and civilian, which included men, women, children as well as senior citizens.

The Commander-in-Chief himself participated in the Garuda Run.

Two naval runners, Satyjeet Yadav, with a timing of 1 hour, 25 minutes, 13 seconds) and Grewans Kutoli (39 mins, 40 secs) won the 21 km and 10 km runs respectively among men.

In the women's section, Marina Mathew with a timing of 1hr 56 min and Josmi Joseph with a timing of 50 min 08 sec won the 21 km and 10 km events respectively.

The Garuda Run was won by Kuldip with a timing of 17 min 52 sec and Sreyendri Kishor with a timing of 25 min 31 sec in the male and female categories respectively.