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 back
Bombayala Devi, on her part, felt that while archery and marathons are not really on the same page, it was every sportsperson’s duty to give back to sports.

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