SEA OF HUMANITY: Hundreds of people from different walks of life participating in the Vijayawada 10K Run in Vijayawada on Sunday. PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

VIJAYAWADA: Braving the early morning chill on a Sunday over 20,000 denizens of Vijayawada of all age groups trooped into the sprawling Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium zestfully to take part in the Vijayawada 10k Run.

Organised for the first time in the city, by a non-profit organisation called Strategic Team for Reinforcement and Improvement of Vijayawada's Ecology (STRIVE), the run brought people closer to their city.

Along with youngsters, septuagenarians, octogenarians, physically challenged, fit and unfit athletes, journalists, artists and others took part.

The signature song titled `I Love Vijayawada' revved up the ambience, with its opening lines `I love my city, it is cute and pretty, this is your motherland, give her a helping hand' ringing in every one's ears for long after the run was over.

Exercises

Hyderabad-based fitness expert Dinaz infused warmth into the stiff limbs of the runners by initiating them into the marathon with a couple of stretching exercises. The runners hit the road with gusto at 7 a.m. sharp, after the formal flag off by Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association president and local MP Lagadapati Rajagopal.

Leading from the front were Municipal Commissioner Natarajan Gulzar, industrialist Gokaraju Ganga Raju and many other senior citizens. On the wheel chair, assisted by his two sons, Bank of Baroda employee O. Balaji Kumar exhibited true character of the resilient Vijayawada. After a strenuous run, wading through the earmarked route, Adilabad's A. Mallesh and Hyderabad's V. Lavanya emerged victors. Hyderabad's A. Raja, Ch. Venkateswara Rao finished second and third, while Nellore's B. Nagamani and Indian Railways' Beena Elias followed Lavanya in that order.

Limelight

In the veteran men's category, D. Sambasiva Rao and D. Venkateswara Rao hogged the limelight, while G. Vijayalakshmi and Urmil Chaurasia stole the show by finishing the race ahead of others. Mayor Tadi Sakuntala, Commissioner of Police Umesh Sharaff, Collector Navin Mittal, former Mayors T. Venkateswara Rao, Jandhyala Sankar, P. Anuradha, MLA Nasar Vali, corporators P. Gowtham Reddy, Anne Prassana, Ch Krishna Kumar, Vijaya Dairy chairman Mandava Janakiramaiah and Y. Chalapathi Rao also graced the run.

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