“Hamara MP’ not running away from marathon’

The organisers of the event today said Kalmadi,who is also the chairman of the Pune International Marathon Trust,has confirmed he will be present to flag off the event at Nehru stadium on Sunday.

Organising secretary Pralhad Sawant does not feel Kalmadi’s presence will change the event in any way. “Mr Kalmadi may have been the face of Pune Marathon,but the event is big enough to be affected by the surrounding issues,” Sawant said on Monday.

After shying away from the media in Guangzhou,Kalmadi made a statement to the media in New Delhi on Monday that he was ready to answer all questions put forth to him in Parliament and claimed he had done nothing wrong.

“One will have to wait and see if at the Nehru stadium,‘Hamara MP’ receives the ‘boos’,as he had received from the angry Delhi crowd during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games,” a long-time marathon participant said.

Sawant strongly believes the focus will be on the mega event itself especially since the Asian Marathon will be taking place for the first time ever in the country,at the same time. “It is a matter of pride that the Asian Marathon Championship will be held for the first time here. With a mix of premier athletes from Africa and Asian nations like China and Japan,the focus is bound to be on the marathon itself”,said Sawant.

The 2008 edition of the Marathon had stars like Priyanka Chopra and Rahul Bose cheering the athletes. The 2009 edition involved Neha Dhupia,Rajat Kapoor,Saurabh Shukla and Shashi Tharoor. Sawant has promised Bollywood personalities without mentioning names,but feels the real stars will be the athletes who will participate in the event ¿ the Asiad medallists in particular.