Darjeeling marathon to be held on Nov 10

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 29 Sep 2019, Darjeeling: The Darjeeling Hill Marathon (DHM), organised by Darjeeling police and the Sports Development Foundation in association with The Telegraph, will be held on November 10 this year and carry total cash prizes of Rs 10 lakh.

Sixteen top runners of the country have confirmed participation in the 21km half marathon. The event, in its seventh year, also attracts international athletes.

The organizers have decided to organize a promotional run of the event by holding a 4km sprint in Darjeeling on Sunday.

Prasanta Saha, organising secretary of DHM, said on Saturday: "We will organize a promotion run of the event at Darjeeling on Sunday. More than 1,000 students are expected to participate in this promotional run that will start from Chowrasta. 

The marathon will start and end at Chowrasta. "International and national runners will reach Darjeeling on November 8. On November 8 and 9, 2019, an exhibition will be organised in Darjeeling as a runup event to the main show," said Saha.

The Darjeeling marathon will have four categories. "There will be a 21km half marathon and a 10km run and these two events will be competitive. Apart from these events there will be a 4km Darjeeling Green Run and Run for Education, which will be noncompetitive," said Anand Menezes, former Olympian who is associated with the event 

The first three winners of half marathon will get Rs 1 lakh, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively, in both male and female categories. 

The top three winners of 10 km run will get Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 each "There will be prize award for the top six finishers. We have also kept a prize money of Rs 1 lakh for anyone breaking the national record in 21 kilometer run," said Menezes.