The 2016 Wipro Chennai Marathon saw a turnout of over 16,000 enthusiastic participants and the ‘Spirit of Chennai’ was there for all to see. From school kids to retired professionals, they all came out in big numbers.
The annual marathon run which usually takes place in December every year was re-scheduled this time because of the devastating floods which brought the city to its knees. But the people of Chennai came together in a show of strength to put a disastrous December behind them.
Jagadeesan Munusamy bagged first place in the Men’s Full Marathon with a timing of two hours and 35 minutes. The 28-year-old is a professional athlete and has been competing in long distance running for the last four years. He won the 2014 Mumbai Marathon and finished second in last year’s Chennai Marathon.
“I have been competing in such events for a while now and having won a few titles in similar competitions, I would not consider this victory as particularly special,” said Jagadeesan.
In the Women’s Full Marathon, Shailja Sridhar took the top prize by finishing her run in just under four hours. The 35-year-old mother of two was running her first Chennai Marathon and she was quite excited about her victory on debut.
“I feel very happy and I’m glad I finished before the heat started kicking in! I thought the volunteers were fantastic in encouraging the participants to go on,” Shailja said.
Shailja cites cycling and yoga as the two primary causes for her fitness and she hopes she can qualify for the Boston Marathon this year.
Results
Full Marathon (Men): 1. Jagadeesan Munusamy, 2. Bhairava Nathan, 3. Nagesh Pawar
Full Marathon (Women): 1. Shailja Sridhar, 2. Helena, 3. Sneha
Comments
SHARE