LAHORE - Muhammad Akhtar won the first prize in under 30, Yasir Gul in over 30, and Japanese national won the first prize in over 50 category while Tahir Siddiqui won the first prize in the veteran category and Sehrish Khan from Bahawalpur won the women event of the NBP 4th Commissioner Karachi Marathon, where total Rs 1.4 million prize money was distributed among the position holders of different categories.
Over 40,000 people of all ages and from all walks of life, attend the event in large numbers from different parts of the city while many other international participants from Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, Malaysia, Morocco, Russia, etc, also ran and won cash prizes and medals. Registration for the marathon was done on the spot and was free though there were huge cash prizes for all the categories of the race. The men and women categories were subdivided into under 30, over 30, over 50 and then broken down further into 7.5 kilometres and 12 kilometres.
There were also categories for differentlyabled and special persons and children. In each category, the first prize was Rs50,000, second Rs30,000 and third Rs20,000 along with gold, silver and bronze medals, trophies and certificates. Advisor to CM Sindh Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary, Dr Sohail Rajput, Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Iqbal Memon and President and CEO of NBP Rehmat Ali Hasnie distributed prizes among the winners. They also lauded the marathon in presenting city’s positive image. Sports Coordinator to Commissioner Karachi Ghulam Muhammad Khan and others government officials and organizers were also present to make the event a huge success. Commissioner Karachi Muhammed Iqbal Memon said that everyone participating in the marathon deserved applause.
“The marathon is meant to bring the citizens of Karachi together. Healthy activities such as these energize the youth and build confidence in them to take ownership of the city. We aim to engage and empower the community through such activities for the promotion of healthy activities across the city. “The event has strengthened the efforts to promote peace in the city and positive activities are being carried out through great collaboration with the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). I thank the NBP management for their partnership to make this event successful,” Iqbal Memon said. Adviser to CM Sindh Wahab also appreciated the marathon. “It’s good that Karachiites participated in the event with full zeal. It shows that Karachiites are peace-loving people.” Chief Secretary Dr Sohail Rajput said: “I hope to see this marathon growing to the 42 kilometre marathon. We should also try and add heritage sites in the route next time.”