For perhaps the first time,the annual Salwan Marathon for school kids in the Capital will have an Olympic flavour. However,the participation will be more in the form of support than any competitive spirit when the run is flagged off from the Army Equestrian Centre on Sunday. While the marathon sees thousands of school children taking part every year,this time around,they have joined hands with the Mittal Champions Trust as partners and five Olympians supported by the Trust have come forward to be associated with the run. Bejing quarter-finalist boxer Dinesh Kumar,archer Bombayla Devi,Asian silver medallist long-distance runner Preeja Sreedharan,800m runner and Asian Games bronze winner Sinimol Paulose and shooter Harveen Srao have agreed to be a part of the marathon. The five will be among the 1200-odd volunteers and will run with the 850 visually handicapped children who will be part of the marathon. Talking about her participation,Paulose said she was excited about the whole project. Since this is off season and I am not training,this will help me gauge my fitness level also. At the same time,I am excited about the whole idea,more so since we will be running along with the visually challenged children. It is amazing that despite the handicap these children have so much energy and enthusiasm to run and enjoy. I am looking forward to it, she added. Giving backBombayala Devi,on her part,felt that while archery and marathons are not really on the same page,it was every sportspersons duty to give back to sports. Even though I am in the middle of our national camp (at Kolkata) for the Commonwealth Games,I am looking forward to run with the kids, Bombayala Devi said. The ace archer,however,added that she wasnt sure of whether she would be present for the whole event,since she has to rush back for the camp. The race section for the visually handicapped will be 3km long. Being organised for the past 15 years,the Salwan marathon is likely to see more than 30,000 children from across the country participating this year.
