24th April 2022, Dehradun: The 9th edition of the World Earth Day Dehradun Half Marathon organized by Thrill Zone was flagged off from Pacific Mall by the Director-General of Police, Uttarakhand Police, Ashok Kumar, IPS today. The theme of the half marathon was ‘Invest in Our Planet’.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life participated in the half marathon which comprised 21km, 10km, and 5km runs. The half marathon was flagged off from Pacific Mall and passed through Rajpur Road, Doon Helidrome, and Sahastradhara Road, before returning to the starting point.
In the 21km male, 16-30 age category Satpal stood the winner, 30-40 age category, Pankaj Joshi grabbed the first position, 40-50 age category, Scott Britton bagged the first prize and in 50+ age category, Jagdish Ram stood the winner. Similarly, in the 21km female, 30-40 age category, Poonam Yadav bagged the first position, 40-50 age category, Shashi Mehta stood as the winner, and in the 50+ category, Meenakshi Joshi bagged the first position.
In the 10km male, under 18 age category, Saurabh Sharma bagged the first position, 18-40 age category, Lalit Arya stood as the winner, 40-50 age category, Dina Nath bagged the first position, and in 50+ age category, Shashi Diwakar was awarded the first prize. On the other hand, in the 10km female, under 18 age category, Richa Tanweer bagged the first prize, 18-40 age category Priyanka stood as the winner, 40-50 age category Preeti Sharma stood winner and in 50+ category Deepa Sethi bagged the first position.
The winners of the respective categories were awarded trophies and certificates during the occasion.
Congratulating the winners, Organiser PC Kushwaha said, “Nearly after 2 years of long gap due to COVID, we are thrilled to be back with the 9th edition of Dehradun Half Marathon. We were astounded to see tremendous participation from the people of Dehradun, who ran the half marathon with sheer zeal and enthusiasm.”
Kushwaha further informed that more than 15 Para Athlete and Visually Impaired runners also took part in the half marathon.
Towards the end of the program, environment warriors, including Dr. Kavita Shukla, Dr. Surjeet Singh Khaira, Dr. Nitin Pandey, JP Maithani, and Dr. Brij Mohan Sharma, were felicitated by the Chief Guest for their exemplary work in the field of Environment conservation.
Speaking on the occasion, Executive Director Pacific Group, Abhishek Bansal, said, “Noticing the fervency and gameness of Doonites at the World Earth Day Dehradun Half Marathon was an amazing moment for all of us. The motive behind hosting the marathon was to commemorate World Earth Day 2022, thus taking a pledge towards bringing back the lost glory of our town. I would also like to mention the ‘Plant Your Bill’ initiative by Pacific Mall, wherein we pledge to plant a tree in the respective customer’s name who shops for Rs. 2500 or above. This initiative is a small effort from our side towards increasing the green cover and will go on till June 30th.”
During the half marathon, the President of Youth For Human Rights India, Dr. Arjumand Zaidi, along with other dignitaries, was also present at the occasion.
The program concluded with the tree plantation drive wherein saplings were planted within the premises of Pacific Mall.
The half marathon was presented by the Pacific Mall, Dehradun, and supported by the United Nations and Youth For Human Rights, India. Powered by Petofy, the running partner of the Dehradun Half Marathon 2022 was Dehradun Runners Club, whereas the Gifting Partner was Bharat Furniture, the Physiotherapy Partner was Dolphin Institute, the Wellness Partner was Jivisa, and the Fitness Partner was Cult Fit.
