BHOPAL: Nidhi Tarare and Ajit Bhende won the titles in women and men’s category (21 km) respectively in the third edition of the ‘Pachmarhi Marathon’ organised by Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board in Pachmarhi on Sunday. The annual event aims at promoting tourism in the hill station.
The marathon was organized in three categories — 5 km, 10 km and 21 km — named as ‘Family Fun Run’, ‘Endurance Run’ and ‘Dhoopgarh Hill Run’ respectively.
The Tourism Board provided finishers medals, ecertificates, route support, RFID timing chips and Tshirts to all the participants of the marathon. Top three runners of the competition were given trophies by the guests and free stay vouchers for two nights and three days.
Managing director of State Tourism Development Corporation, S Vishwanathan said that a meaningful effort is being made to promote health tourism and active holidays concept in the state by organizing the marathon.
Commandant AES Center Pachmarhi Brigadier Girish Garg, Hoshangabad district collector Neeraj Kumar Singh, Satpura Tiger Reserve field director L Krishnamurthy along with concerned officers and employees of tourism department and district administration were present.
The first edition of the marathon was held in 2018 wherein around 800 tourists participated. After the immense success, it was decided to organize this marathon every year by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board as an annual event. Its second edition was held in 2019, in which around 1000 tourists participated. In view of the Covid 19 epidemic, the marathon could not be organized in 2020, officials said.
Keeping in view the Covid-19, the marathon was organized with limited participants following all the safety and security instructions. It was mandatory for all the participating tourists to be fully vaccinated and submit a negative report of the Covid test.
