42,000 kids run in Salwan Marathon

New Delhi: Ankur Dhama and Reena Kumari won titles in their respective categories of visually challenged section in the 15th Salwan Marathon that saw participation of over 42,000 children from about 700 schools across the country. Ankur finished first among boys and Reena among girls in the under-14 visually challenged category to win Rs 10,000 prize purse each, in the race claimed to be the world`s biggest school marathon. Srikant and Vikas Yadav finished second and third among boys, while Rinku Shikhawat and Shabnam were the first and second runners-up among girls in the visually challenged category.More than 1100 visually challenged school children ran through a 3km stretch across the woods at the Polo Grounds of the Army Equestrian Centre. The event also saw U-14 (3km), U-16 (5km) and U-18 (7km) races with each winner school children pocketing Rs 10,000, while the second and third place finishers winning Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively.Earlier, the marathon was flagged off by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with several sportspersons including Olympians -- archer Bombayla Devi, pugilist Dinesh Kumar, long-distance runner Preeja Sreedharan and 800m runner Sinimol Paulose in attendance. Bureau Report