The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Fun-filled midnight run in prospect

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 18, 2007
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Sport - Athletics

Fun-filled midnight run in prospect

Principal Correspondent

Bangalore: Saturday night fever is all set to rage across Whitefield, a Bangalore suburb, this weekend. The Bangalore midnight marathon will commence at Whitefield's Igate campus, when the clock strikes 12 on May 19. Along with the full marathon, a half-marathon, an IT City run and a Cipsa corporate relay will also be held. The full marathon will span 42.19 km while the half-marathon will last 21.1 km.

The marathon, however, does not have the Athletics Federation of India's approval. "The forthcoming Bangalore midnight marathon is not recognised by the Athletics Federation of India and strict action will be taken against officials and athletes who are affiliated and registered with AFI, if they participate or support this marathon in any form," a press release of the AFI said.

`Fun ambience'

At a press briefing, as part of the build-up, Crossover, the organising company, assured that all necessary steps have been taken to ensure a safe and smooth marathon with added dollops of entertainment. "There will be amateur music bands, fire eaters, fireworks and it will be a fun ambience," said Crossover's Darshan.

The marathon route will be well lit and all traffic will be cordoned off besides a team of medical personnel to keep a watch on the athletes. "We have got about 22 entries from some elite athletes from across the World for the full marathon while overall 70 per cent of the entries is for the half marathon," Darshan said.

The marathon, besides its unique midnight run, will also feature `chip-technology' to time the athletes. The chip will be attached to each athlete and it will relay timings at every lap and ensure a fool-proof method to tabulate the winners.

Pleasant run

The organisers might offer a `fun-on-the-run' perspective but for Mathew Kangogo from Kenya, the marathon was all about bettering his earlier mark of 2:29.30s besides praying to God that he does not suffer a black-out. "I have never run a midnight marathon before and I am looking forward to it. When you run in the day, you lose a lot of body fluids but I guess it must be pleasant during the night. I saw a mention about this marathon in a magazine in Kenya and I applied. Yes I do know that the prize money is not high but I am not running for that... I am running to better my timing and hopefully in trying to run faster, I wouldn't suffer a black-out. In marathons, you can never say until you finish the race," Kangogo said.

Originally a road-race specialist, Kangogo switched to the marathon over the last two years. "I have run in Nairobi and though I finished 140th, I still thought that I had improved, so I want to continue that," the 23-year old Kangogo said. The organisers meanwhile reiterated that they expect the numbers to swell in the next two days before the clock turns midnight on Saturday. For details, mail: darshan@coindia.com.

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