: The 19th Paradip Marathon 2024 was conducted by the GopabandhuKreedaSansad of Paradip Port Authority (PPA) on Wednesday on the occasion of the 63rd Port Foundation Day with chief guest PPA Chairman PL Haranadh flagging it off at Hanuman Temple Square. Deputy Chairman, PPA NilabhraDasgupta and DIG, Local Coast Guard, YK Singh were the guests of honour.
The marathon covered a route of 14 km and concluded at the Gopabandhu Stadium amid great encouragement by the inhabitants of the port town and members of other organisations. A total of 358 competitors – 299 male and 59 female, participated in the run.
Ashok Dandasena of Bhubaneswar won the first prize in the men’s category, RashmiRanjanNayak from Bhubaneswar got the second prize and Babul Tudu of Jharkhand got the third prize in this category. In the women category, SusmitaTigga from Sundargarh won the first prize, SandhyaMurmu from Baleswar got the second prize and Puja Behera from Baleswar won the third prize.
International Para Athlete JayantiBehera was felicitated by Chairman Haranadh on the occasion. Her coach Bishnu Mishra was felicitated by Deputy Chairman NilabhraDasgupta. Apart from Haranadh and Dasgupta, Director, IFFCO Unit, Paradip, KJ Patel, Advisor, Business Development AK Bose and PPA Heads of the departments graced the valedictory function held at the Gopabandhu Stadium.
Addressing the gathering, the PPA Chairman highlighted how the PPA has conducted its own marathon since 1967 resulting in year- to- year growth in cargo traffic at a slow, steady and fast pace. In this fiscal, the port is all set to create history by becoming No.1 port among Indian Major Ports in cargo throughput, he said.
He also congratulated the employees, family members, importers, exporters, unions, PPP operators and other stakeholders for their massive contribution and lauded the participants who have come from different parts of the country to join the marathon.
