Over 15,000 runners will be flagged off in the different race categories of the 12th Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon, which will be held on December 8. Sakshi Malik, Olympic Bronze medalist and Commonwealth Games Gold medalist will flag off the races as Event Ambassador, along with other dignitaries.
The men’s elite full marathon will be headlined by Army’s Pradeep Singh, who boasts the fastest personal best in the field of 2:16.55. He will face a strong challenge from Army mate Dhanwant Prahlad, who has a PB of 2:18.10. Also returning to stake his claim will be Mohit Rathor, two-time champion and last year’s runner-up, who also holds the course record of 2:18.05, set in 2022.
The women’s Half Marathon will feature defending champion Prajakta Godbo le of Maharashtra, who has a personal best of 1:14.21, besides Phoolan Pal, who has a personal best of 1:16.20, Archana Jadhav, and Tamsi Singh, to name a few.
The Half Marathon elite field for men will be led by Arun Rathod, who is the fastest in the field, with a PB of 1:04.39. He will have to contend with Dinesh (PB of 1:05.44) and Deepak Kumbhar (1:05.45).
The full marathon will be flagged from New Viva College, Virar while the Half Marathon will start from Vasai (West), near G G College.
The event offers among the highest prize money of Rs 58 lakhs plus with the Full Marathon winner standing to win a purse of Rs 3 lakh, while the half marathon winners will be richer by Rs 2 lakh each.
To ensure a safe run for all participants and prompt and quick medical action in the event of any untoward incident, extensive facilities will be put in place for Race Day. There will be a Medical Base Camp at the New Viva College, which will have an ICU setup provided by Prakriti Hospital, which will be staffed by Cardiologists and doctors from the hospital as well as from the Medical Associations of Virar, Nalla Sopara and Vasai.
Seven fully equipped Cardiac Ambulances will be stationed along the route, along with ambulances at each of the 14 medical stations on the route. There will also be 40 doctors patrolling the route on motorbikes to ensure a quick response time in case any of the participants require medical assistance.
Western Railway has sanctioned two special trains for participants to travel to Vasai and Virar, departing from Churchgate at 2.30 am and 3.00 am respectively. Special buses have been arranged by the Corporation to ferry participants from Vasai and Virar to the start points of the Half Marathon, the Full Marathon, the 10K and 5K.
