Thane (Maharashtra), Jul 24 (IANS): More than 32,000 people participated in the 22nd edition of the Thane Mayor Varsha (monsoon) Marathon, enjoying the cool rainy morning here.
The marathoners observed a minute's silence to express their solidarity for those killed in the 13/7 serial blasts in Mumbai. The event was organised on behalf of the Mayor by the Thane Municipal Corporation.
The marathon (21 kms) gave out the message of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Keep running, stay fit and avoid drugs was their mantra and surely Thane did follow this on the day.
Deepak Kumar of Pune (1:10:06) won the race, closely followed by Parshuram Bhoi of Kolhapur (1:11:40), who remained in the picture till the last lung-bursting run to the tape. Shashikant of the Indian Air Force (1:11:44) finished third.
Deepak emerged the winner for the second year in a row, improving his own timing of 1:10:58 last year.
Monica Attre (1:02:08) won the title for Under-15 girls, followed by Supriya Patil (1:02:16) and Minakshi Patil (1:03:45).
The guest of honour, Shiv Sena youth wing leader Aditya Thackerey, along with Thane Mayor Ashok Vaity and Thane Shiv Sena legislator Eknath Shinde, flagged off the marathon which carried prize money of Rs 500,000.
"The TMC has always been keen to make this event a great experience and memorable day for all the participants and Thanekars. Coming to the city and running this race is an experience of a lifetime for these tribal kids. As we want to match the standards of an international marathon, we have tried to fill all the potholes along the run and resurface the route to facilitate the runners as we also have maximum children running this race," Vaity said.
Thackeray also interacted with the senior citizens participating in the race.