PUNE: The sixth edition of the PNB MetLife’s Satara Hill Half Marathon will be held on Sunday in the ghats of Sahyadri mountains at Satara.
The marathon will be kicked off by eminent marathoner - Satish Gujaran, renowned as the ‘Running Machine’. Satish has ran around 12 ultra marathons, 16 full marathons and 15 half marathons, around the globe.
Gujaran started his run from Vashi to Satara on September 13. The three day run (prior to the main event at Satara) Gujaran intends to support the underprivileged children from ISHA foundation through the funds collected during this run.
“Initially when we started the run, I wanted to complete the run in 2 and a half days. But due to some commitments I had to extend the duration. My body is such that during the run I cannot take a break. If I take a break then my body will become stiff. If my body stays in mobility it is good for me,” Gujaran told Sakal Times.
“Out of all the marathons I have participated in, the Mumbai Marathon is my favourite. At the same time the Comrades Marathon is very close to me. The crowd support there is electrifying. The local people come out on the entire stretch of the marathon route and support you there,” Gujaran informed.
“The trend of people coming out and participating in marathons is very good. Some people are just taking part for the sake of putting their pictures on social media which should not be the case. Events like the Satara Hill Half Marathon are organised so well, that more and more people are participating in it,” Gujaran added.
The 21-km marathon has seen a 3-fold registration since 2015 with 6200+ people participating in it.
The Half Marathon is classified under three categories - Top Over-all Finishers (including Indian and Overseas Elite runners), Top Indian Finishers (# only for Indian finishers residing in India, irrespective of age and Indian finishers having Age-wise Group Categories.