Sports minister Kiren Rijiju flags off Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

New Delhi [India], Oct 20 (ANI): Celebrating its 15th year in the city, the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon was flagged off by Union Minister for Sports, Kiren Rijiju on Sunday from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Following a countdown, Rijiju fired a pistol in the air to begin the run.
The number of registrations for all categories in the 15th edition of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) has soared to an all-time high of 40,633 participants, organisers said.
The Great Delhi Run has registered an unprecedented 16,962 runners while the half marathon witnessed a spike of 11 per cent with 13,115 participants.
The 10k run registrations witnessed a jump of 77 per cent to 8,553. The senior citizen run received 1430 registrations, while the champions with a disability will have 573 inspiring individuals defying all odds to complete the distance.
The IAAF Gold Label race has prize money of USD 275,000.
In the Indian elite line-up, the 2014 and 2011 winner, Suresh Kumar Patel, will lead the men's line-up. In his most recent appearance for 25kms distance run, Patel timed a personal best of 1.04.38.
In the women's category, 2017 course record holder L Suriya and 3000m steeplechase national record holder Sudha Singh will lead the race. Suriya clocked 70.31 in 2017 to create a new course record.
This year ADHM is supported by New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), who will lend their expertise to ensure all the waste on the route is efficiently managed. Also, for the first time ever Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has associated with the event to provide special metro services. (ANI)