Top athletes for Chennai Marathon on Feb 10

Chennai, Feb 5 (UNI) Focussing on the objectives of a green and pollution free environment, identifying future heroes in athletics and promoting participation in sports, the Hero Ultra Chennai Marathon, 2008, will be held here on February 10.

Announcing this at a press conference today, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDATN) General Manager Mary Rajathi, a former national volleyball player, told newspersons that the marathon was meant to be a movement to bring people from all walks of life to run together for a greener future.

The marathon would be held in three categories with the the participation of some of India's top athletes, who were presently training in a nation camp. The main event open to all would be over a distance of 42 km from the labour statue on the Marina covering two laps. The winner would be presented a purse of Rs 75,000.

The Half marathon would be over 21 km from the labour statue for both men and women with a prize money of Rs 50,000 for the latter and Rs 30,000 for the former.

The Chennai Marathon for school children below 19 years would be over a distance of six km from the labour statue with the winner being awarded a purse of Rs 10,000 and a shield.

In addition to these three categories, the marathon for senior citizens and corporates would be over a distance of three km. The winner would be awarded Rs 5,000 as cash prize.

Eminent sports personalities, including a few Olympians Shiny Wilson, Sebastian Xavier, Wilson Cherian, V Baskaran, Charles Cornelius, V J Philips, P Ramachandran, Jincy Philip, V Jayalakshmi and Lijo David, would also participate in the event.

The sponsors of the event, Hero Exports Pvt Ltd and Hero Cycles Ltd, handed over the cheque for Rs 3.2 lakh to former Indian athlete Shiny Wilson.

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