Some 16,500 people, including six national champions Kheta Ram, Indrajeet Patel, Sudha Singh, Monika Athre, Priya Patel and Kavitha Raut participated in the 12th Edition of Jio Hyderabad 10K Run on Sunday morning.
The Elite, Open 10K and 7K Runs were flagged off by Padma Shri Milkha Singh. Uma Chirgupati, chairperson of 10K Run, Venugopal, CEO, Reliance Jio Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Suresh Babu and other Committee Members of Hyderabad 10K Run Foundation along with JIO senior executives were present.
Speaking to the media, Milkha Singh, Brand Ambassador of Hyderabad 10K Run, said he wanted to see one Indian winning Gold Medal in athletics “before I die”. He said, “I owe a lot to Hyderabad. I started my running career here in 1951. After 63 years, I went to the same place in EME on Saturday in Lothukunta, where a stadium is named after me “Milkha Singh Stadium” he informed.
Hyderabad 10 K Run is the celebration of the Spirit of Hyderabad being organised for the past 12 years by Uma Chigurupati, chairperson of Hyderabad 10 K Foundation. Uma said the total prize money has been increased to Rs 30 lakhs. The foundation has been conducting Hyderabad 10k run annually in major sporting events in India.
Kheta Ram won the race among men, Kavitha Raut among women, Cheruiyot Yegon Daniel among International Men. Tarus Gladys Jepkechei among International Women emerged as winners in 10 Elite Run and emerged in first position and won cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh. Kheta Ram won the race with a time 30.47, Kavitha Raut 38.13, Cheruiyot Yegon Daniel 31.25 and Tarus Gladys Jepkechei 35.54. Second and Third prize winners in each category were given away Rs 1.25 lakh and One lakh each. The prizes were given away by Venugopal, CEO Reliance Jio, Pullela Gopichand, Uma Chirgurpati and others.
In 10K Open Men Category, Prakash M, K. Maniram (CRPF) Ram and C. Chinababu emerged first, second and third by clocking 36.17; 40.09 and 40.46 time. In women 10 K Open Bhavan, Ballari, Vandana Pramod and Vanith stood first, second and third registering 49.30, 50.19 and 53.04 minutes and bagged Rs 50,000, 40,000 and 30,000 respectively.
Among Veteran Men 10 K, Prabhakar Rao, Vaddepally Prabhakar and Venugopal Raju Penmetcha stood first, second, third by registering 54.23, 55.56 and 57.15 minutes respectively. Among 10K Veteran, Rachel Chatterjee, George Bishop and Dagmar Schiffler came first, second and third by clocking 55.58 (minutes), 01.09 (hours) and 01.11 (hours) respectively. The prize money given was Rs 50,000, 40,000 and 30,000 each in each of these categories. Prior to the flagging off the Run, playback singer Anuj Guruwara conducted an entertainment program en route Mazza 7K Run. (NSS)
