Wednesday, February 6, 2008

CHENNAI MARATHON 2008



The Chennai Marathon 2008 is all about to kick start on Feb 10th 2008(this sunday) from the Labour Statue(Ullaipallar sillai).Announcing this in a press conference ,Mary Rajathy,the GM of the Sports Development Authority Of TamilNadu (SDATN),said that the main aim of this event is" to bring people from all walks of life to run together for a greener future".
Elobrating about the details of the event ,the Sports Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr.Mohiden khan,said that the event was going to be conducted in a category of 5 .Which are:

1)FULL MARATHON FOR MEN:

DISTANCE ::: 42 KMS approx,starting from the labour statue(ullaipallar sillai),with two laps.

PRIZE MONEY::: Rs.75,000

2)HALF MARATHON FOR MEN AND WOMEN:

DISTANCE::: 21 kms approx,starting again from the labour statue

PRIZE MONEY:::Rs.50,000 for women,Rs.30,000 for men.

3)MARATHON FOR PEOPLE BELOW 19 YEARS OF AGE:

DISTANCE::: 6 kms approx,starting place is again the labour statue.

PRIZE::: Rs.10,000 along with a shield.

4)MARATHON FOR SENIOR CITIZENS AND CORPORATES:

DISTANCE::: 3 Kms approx.

PRIZE::: Rs.5,000

Apart from this there is one more category: 5)MARATHON FOR SPECIAL CHILDREN,the details of which i don't know.

MAIN SPONSERS:: Hero Ultra.

These are the information that i collected from these sites::

SOURCE OF INFO::

1)CHENNAI ONLINE

2)NEWINDPRESS

The last chennai marathon happened in 2006 ,and i have read that, it was really poorly organised,with participants being not informed beforehand about the target time of 4 hrs,as a result,after four hours ,participants were literally chased up by the police .Many of them were 100 metres of the finishing line but yet they were asked to leave ,as the TIME WAS OVER.(Just imagine their frustration,after running for 4 hours with an aim of finishing it,you are being told this)
So collect all details beforehand and then leave.Lets hope we have a good organising this time.

Now for the informal section of my writing:
This event is being organised to encourage promoting a GREENER and a POLLUTION FREE chennai.Now let me ask you this,you are running in this marathon with a t-shirt asking to "PROMOTE GREENER AND POLLUTION FREE CHENNAI",and now its two years from that date,Has chennai become greener and pollution free???Probably you must now be in some oxygen parlour paying 100 bucks for your pure oxygen.These things got no sense as such.HTF just a promotional event like this ,is really going to bring any change ??And if you know a person who has changed from attending any of these promotional events,i kindly request you to show me that guy/gal,iam pretty sure that i can convince that guy /gal to giving his property to me for a "GREENER CAUSE".

These events are primarily aimed at making money by giving away a small part of the made money as a eye catchy prize.

If your arguement is that,the money collected from the sponsership of this event is going to be used for the cause,just hold on...The very cause that we are talking here came into light because you and me have failed to realise the fact that it is you and me who are fucking up with nature.So Don't be lame,to be going to this marathon for promoting the cause for which you and I were responsible, rather,just be a responsible individual in your daily life.(A small example of how you chennaities can do this is out here) .But whatsoever,Iam sure that running a marathon is going to be a real fun ,that too,getting to run it alonside a beach,is even more awesome,so gear up and don't miss to participate in the event .And participate with the motto of just running and not with an idea of promoting the cause.

Entry forms are available at the Anna swimming pool, Marina, the Shenoynagar Swimming pool and SDAT Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

6 comments:

m said...

Hmmmm...sad to hear that in 2006 marathon people were chased out...becoz i thought the spirit of sports is to finish it....

Anyway...i got to disagree with ur informal thinking about running for a cause.....it is not that money will be made and will be spent for the cause...it is just to let majority of the people that there is a minority of people who are aware of what's happening so that the majority can stop to think about it...our society is not scientifically inclined and are not an acccountable lot....most of us don't stop and think before spitting or throwing way rubbish in the road...this is due to indifference and ignorance.... and every change starts with a small step.... and instead of just running if u run for a cause it is mpre fun...it's like living for a cause rather than just living....

VJ said...

Firstly,thank you for your comments.

What you are saying is absolutely true,but that logic won't work here in a metro city like Chennai .If you see, the majority of people who are going na participate in these events are either college or school students,and the people from a very decent and educated background.
The crowd that we are talking about here are the majority who know "what they are doing is wrong",
As i said in guru's post on "AMBULANCE ETIQUETTE",these people are doing stuffs wantedly ,there is no question of awareness at all.
Only strict rules and proper execution of these rules would work here.

Anonymous said...

It is great to see that Marathon in chennai but i feel very pitty about what happened in 2006 marathon

I think it may create some awareness to public BUT say some thing realistic it is foolish to say that carry all the waste(water packets covers) and search for the litter box and dispose it...If u want this to happen only one thing can be done like foreign countries strict laws and rules should be followed..if the people does not follow it they should be fined huge amount....

m said...

I agree that in a country like ours things like this has to start with strict laws and fines.....but first the government has to wake up and place proper waste disposal facilities for the general public to use....The last time when i was in the southern railways reservation facility i could never find a waste bin....
Unfortunately the officers who should be planning such things for the government to execute sadly miss this....
On the brighter side during my last visit i found the government has revived quite a lot of parks and put up lots of green divides, although they also cut up lots of trees to extend roads...
@Sunil....although laws can help change should start from individuals....one can carry a light weight disposal bag and collect things such as chocolate wrappers, empty water packets (one's own waste)and then dispose it when they find a proper bin...it is not a hard work and will come with practice...

VJ said...

@sunil: There are no boundaries as such.I mean there is literally nothing that is impractical.Once you do it,it becomes practical.So instead of trying to find an excuse for littering around,just try doing something to stop that.
@ela: ya,you are absolutely right.Every thing needs a proper execution.And as u said if every individual becomes enlightened from inside,there is no need of any rules ,laws as such.

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work.