Coimbatore City’s biggest marathon (Coimbatore Marathon) of 2024 is just 2 days away. The city will witness more than 21,000 people taking part in the 12th edition of the Coimbatore Marathon.
The marathon was brought to the city by Coimbatore Cancer Foundation (CCF) in association with Coimbatore Runners and this year’s marathon will take place on Sunday (15.12.24).
This is a world-class running event with 4 categories – a 21.1 km run (half marathon); a 10 km run; a 5 km run and a 5 km walk besides a corporate relay.
It is also a fundraiser to aid CCF to support cancer patients. Popular footwear brand Walkaroo is the title sponsor. The event is powered by one of the World’s leader in air compressor sector, ELGi Equipments Ltd, and it is recognised by the Tamil Nadu Athletic Association.
The Curtain-raiser event of the marathon and the T-Shirt & Medal launch ceremony took place recently at Brookfields.
Balakrishnan, Commissioner, Coimbatore City Police; Dr. Balaji, Managing Trustee, CCF; Jairam Varadharaj, Managing Director, ELGi Equipments; Rajesh Kurian, Director, Walkaroo and Ramesh Ponnusami, Race Director, Coimbatore Marathon 2024 launched the T-Shirt and Medals.
While welcoming the gathering, Balaji said that 12 years back, when they started this event, they never thought that this marathon would grow to be what it is today. He expressed his gratitude to all sponsors, participants, Coimbatore District and City Administration & the City Police.
He opined that a lot of awareness about cancer has been created through the event. Close to Rs.5 crore has been raised in 12 years to support patients affected by Cancer, he added.
Ramesh Ponnusami, shared that last year 18,600+ ran the event while this year they have 21,000+ participants from 19 states (which is a 13% increase). 4,500 of the total persons registered to participate in the event are women.
This time, the organizers used WhatsApp as a platform to register for the marathon (which is probably the first time in the world), and 20% of the registrations came from WhatsApp. 78% of the people who have registered are from Coimbatore.
This year, the oldest person to take part in the marathon is a 92-year-old man (5 km); 84-year-old man (10km); a 79-year-old man (half marathon). On the other hand, a woman aged 79 years will be the oldest woman participant to take part, while other two 68 year old and a 65 year old are also registered to participate. The total cash prize is Rs. 4.25 lakh.
Balakrishnan appreciated the organizing team for organising the event in an extremely professional manner with great zeal and meticulous planning. He expressed that this event will continue grow and put Coimbatore in the Marathon Map of the World in the years to come.
