KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 11
The organisers of the Dhara Nepalgunj Marathon, Creative hands today handed over the certificates received from the Association of International Marathon and Road Race (AIMS) to Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City and Kohalpur Municipality.
The AIMS had on September 21 approved the routes of four events - marathon (42.195km), half marathon (21.097km), 10km and 5km. India's Amir Shanidwan had measured the route on August 28 and submitted the report to AIMS and the Nepalgunj Marathon received the certificate signed by International Measurement Administrator Dave Cundy, informed the Founder President of Nepalgunj Marathon TS Thakuri. The AIMS has also included Nepalgunj Marathon in its annual calendar making it the first event from Nepal to be listed in the global map.
Brand Ambassador of the Dhara Nepalgunj Marathon, super star actor Rajesh Hamal handed over the certificates to Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City Mayor Prashant Bista and Kohalpur Municipality Mayor Purna Acharya amidst a programme here today.
The eighth edition of the Nepalgunj Marathon, which is slated for December 10, will start at Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City office and go through Janaki Rural Municipality, Kohalpur Municipality office and Baniyabhar before returning back to the finish line at BP Chowk. "We had been organising the marathon on November 21 (Mangshir 5) to mark the peace accord between Maoists and the government but we were forced to change the date this year due to the general elections," said Thakuri.
The organisers have already opened registration and the marathon will feature 11 events - men's marathon, women's half marathon, men's 10km, women's 5km, boys' 5km, girls' 3km, kids run (8-12yrs), 2km corporate fun, 1km tricycle, and walkathon. Nepalgunj Marathon became the second long-distance event to get AIMS certificate. The international body has also approved the Kathmandu Marathon organised by the NRS Foundation headed by Nepal Olympic Committee General Secretary Nilendra Raj Shrestha.
Patron of Dhara Nepalgunj Marathon, Olympian Raghu Raj Onta thanked the Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City and Kohalpur Municipality for accepting the ownership of the event.
"We have created histories in Nepalgunj Marathon and we hope to grow even bigger in the days to come following the international approval," he said.
The 13th South Asian Games gold medallists Santoshi Shrestha and Gopi Chandra Parki lauded the Nepalgunj Marathon as one of the best events of the country. "I was surprised to find an international-standard route in Nepalgunj when I first participated in the seventh edition. It is one of the best routes The course is lucky for me as I made my half marathon debut from this event and the AIMS recognition will be an added advantage for athletes," she said.
Winner of the sixth edition, Parki said the Nepalgunj Marathon route was better than Berlin. "We don't need to go to foreign land to find standard route. I have been preparing for this event and hopefully I can break my record this time around," said Parki, who won in two hours, 18 minutes and 59 seconds.
Actor Hamal said he was humbled to see huge local participation in the previous event. "It was a proud moment to see people from various walks of life at the same event," he said.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 12, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
