After recording a historic victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections and taking the oath of office, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Sunday hit another milestone after crossing the finish line by completing the 21 km long Kashmir Half Marathon in just over two hours.
Around 1700 runners from across the country & 12 foreign nations participated in the Kashmir Marathon.
The marathon runners were cheered by a large number of sports enthusiasts along the route.
The prevailing weather conditions in the valley also boosted morale and aided marathon runners.
Bollywood actor and fitness freak Sunil Shetty along with Omar Abdullah flagged off the marathon from the Polo Ground stadium in Srinagar.
Sharing his personal experience of completing the first half marathon Omar posted a message on X, “I’m so damn pleased with myself today.
I completed the Kashmir Half Marathon - 21 KM at an average pace of 5 min 54 sec per KM. I’ve never run more than 13 KM in my life & that too only ever once. Today I just kept going, propelled by the enthusiasm of other amateur runners like myself”.
Feeling elated Omar said, “The best part was running past my home with family & others out to cheer me on”.
He said I had no proper training, no running plan, no nutrition.
Picked up a banana & a couple of ‘khajoor’ along the way.
Abdullah also advised people to try running to beat stress. “You don’t need drugs to feel good or beat stress.
A good run, whether a kilometer or a marathon, is enough to clear the cobwebs & achieve a natural feeling of euphoria & enthusiasm.
Try it, you won’t regret it. Let’s start running for a drug-free J&K,” he posted.
Omar, who has been on a roll ever since he won an emphatic victory
in the Assembly polls said he thoroughly enjoyed the marathon and clicked lots of selfies and interacted with the journos who wanted to record a quick interview on the way.
“It was such fun running with others. Lots of selfies & videos along the way.
I even had a few requests for appointments and one or two job-related problems highlighted along the way. Let’s not forget the enterprising journalists who tried to run alongside in the hope of grabbing an interview”.
Interacting with the media Sunil Shettey said, “People want to come to Kashmir, and an event like this gives a message to the entire world that people from all over the world are coming here to participate and it’s a big thing. It’s a paradise for the world.
The event was organized by the Department of Tourism to show the world that the situation has improved in the valley.
Commissioner Secretary Tourism Yasha Mudgal said the whole idea is to promote Kashmir as a popular sports tourism destination.
“We have attracted the best of the talent at the International and national level and professional athletes who actually run marathons across the country and the globe have participated in the event”.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha attended the prize distribution ceremony after the run was completed by the athletes. Sinha congratulated all the winners & participants. “This successful mega event has put J&K on the world marathon map. Very soon we’ll organise the Jammu Marathon on a similar scale. These signature running events will bring together runners from across the globe & encourage tourism”, he added.
Manoj Sinha said I’m truly grateful to PM Narendra Modi for the absolute transformation of J&K, which has made hosting of such international events possible.
