Nearly 6,000 runners took part in the fourth edition of Mangalore Marathon in Mangaluru on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
A sea of runners sporting t-shirts with shades of Yellow and orange, resembling colours of Karnataka State flag, filled the roads of the city on Sunday morning. Nearly 6,000 runners took part in the fourth edition of Mangalore Marathon organised by Mangalore Runners’ Club.
The runners were delved in the Mangaluru’s cultural spirit as they had pili (tiger) images printed on their t-shirts. All the finishers received medal that had a ‘running pili’ embossed on it. Runners like the Mangalore Marathon race ambassador Sathak Malani from Gujarat ran half marathon wearing shorts resembling tiger’s skin. Radiologist Santosh Rai, a pacer in the event, ran 21K with stripes like tiger painted on his body, while runners Arun Valdar had a tiger painted on his head, and Ramesh Kumar had tiger like skin painted partly on his face.
The event started at 4.15 a.m. with a full marathon of 42.2K from Mangala stadium. Among the 106 runners who took part included 76-year-old avid cyclist and NITK alumni Johnson Paul Moyalan.
The next were the 20 miler (32K) and 21.1 K half marathon, which were flagged off at 4.45 a.m. and 5.15 a.m. respectively. Among those who took part in the two runs included avid runner and 68-year-old city autorickshaw driver Madhava Saripalla who completed the 20 miler run in 3:26.07 hours. The Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy completed his 21.1 K run in 2:17.37 hours, while the State Commissioner, Employees’ State Insurance, Y.K. Dinesh Kumar completed the 21.1K run in 2:42.02 hours. MP Capt. Brijesh Chowta ran 5K in 46.13 minutes.
Thomas Bobby Philip, who is popular as “Barefoot Bobby” for running barefoot with open chest, completed his 20 miler run in 2:25.30 hours, while marathoner Ashraf Orrie from Cape Town finished his 20 miler run in 3:33.40 hours. Running coach Deepa Nayak, a native of Honnavar, completed her 21K run in 1:44.19 hours. Avid runner and Chartered Accountant Shanti Krishnan completed her 21K run in 2:15.24 hours.
There were good number of runners in the 10K, 5K and 2K gammat runs. There were also 10K and 5K students’ run in which good number of students took part.
Prizes were given away to toppers, in different age groups, in each of the full marathon, 20 miler, half marathon, 10K and 5K runs.
Published – November 09, 2025 07:22 pm IST
