Dipika Pallikal

ONE of the city’s biggest forthcoming marathons, registration for GiveLife Chennai Marathon opened on Thursday.

The event kicked off in grandeur enough to get in crowds with tennis legend, Vijay Amritraj, Karthi P Chidambaram and other Indian athletes like Mohammed Riyaz and R Natraj, besides younger sports icons like Squash champions Deepika Pallikal and Joshna Chinnappa.

The first registration form was signed by Karthi Chidambaram. “India has been a nation of spectators. Our participation in sports is dismal.

Physical fitness should be made a part of the syllabus and physical fitness teachers must be treated with the same respect and given the same pay as the others,” he said.

Vijay Amritraj, who though being fashionably late, turned out to be a delight for the kids as he first went over to greet them warmly and even posed with them for a photograph.

“I think it’s a very special gift to be able to do things through an NGO to serve people. Unless we address such important issues, it is very difficult to help,” he said.

Calling out to students to participate, he said, “It’s very important that between 3 pm to 6 pm, students are not inside their homes, but outside, involved in any sport.

Chennai Marathon has to evolve like the New York marathon.” Akhila Srinivasan, MD of Shriram Life and Chairperson, GiveLife, and Fr Jegath Gaspar Raj, Co-Founder of GiveLife, briefed on the various terms and prizes of the marathon.

The total prize money involved is an enormous Rs 70 lakh. The first prize for the professional marathon in both men and women categories separately is Rs 10 lakh, the second prize is Rs 5 lakh and the third prize is Rs 3 lakh, besides other special awards.

The marathon will be sponsored by the Chennai-based construction company, MARG. It will be held on August 31 would take place under five categories- Course for professional athletes 18 years and above (21.9 km), The City Run for general public (7 km), Junior Run for school children (7 km), Masters Run for the elderly (3 km) and the Wheel Chair Run for the disabled (500 m).

The registration for the marathon can be made at www.givelifechennaimarathon.com or at designated locations. The fee is Rs 100.