TARU

    Maligaon, 26^th February, 2023: The 2^nd edition of the JSL – NFR Northeast Half Marathon series has been completed successfully in the iconic Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) o­n 26^th February, 2023. The marathon race was flagged off in the gracious presence of Hon’ble MP from Darjeeling Shri Raju Bista; General Manager of N. F. Railway, Shri Anshul Gupta and Director of Jindal Stainless, Shri Tarun Khulbe. Jamling Norgay (son of the legendary Tenzing Norgay); Mira Rai, winner of National Geographic Adventurer of the Year; Uday Kumar, Parathlete; Gaurav Jajodia, CEO of Jai Balaji Group and many others dignitaries were also present.

            With the prime objective of ‘Empowering Sports in North Bengal & Sikkim areas and Promoting the iconic DHR – a UNESCO World Heritage site’, this well-liked JSL - NFR Northeast Half Marathon has been organised by N. F. Railway jointly with its various stakeholders at picturesque Darjeeling. The supporting groups viz. Darjeeling Enfielders, Darjeeling Mountain Bikers, Darjeeling Police and Administration, Yuma Hospitals, Vikrun Foundation and Jai Balaji Group have joined hands to make the event grand successful. The event has been successful in bringing this region into limelight at both National & International sporting platforms as a large number of runners from all part of  India and abroad had took part in the race.

            Participants competed in three different race categories - 21 Km, 10 Km and 5 Km run both for men and women. Among the 21 Km-long half marathon runners, Belete Mekonen from Ethiopia won the first position in 01:09.4 while Gajindra Rai from Nepal bagged the second position in 01:11.5 and James Kipleting from Kenya emerged as third runner with a timing of 01:11.6 in the men’s race. In the women category, Jalina Kore from Ethiopia finished her run clocking 01:09.5 and became the first while Tamsi Singh of Uttar Pradesh (India) bagged second position in 01:18.6 and Preity Rai of Kurseong (West Bengal) ranked third with a timing of 01:24.4. Winners of 21 Km, 10 Km and 5 Km run for both the categories were awarded with prize money, medals and certificates.  

            o­n this occasion, Hon’ble MP Shri Raju Bista expressed his gratitude and thanked Railway for organizing such an important event at Darjeeling. The General Manager, Shri Anshul Gupta informed that more such events would be organized by this zone for heralding new era to the sporting activities and NE Half Marathon at Darjeeling would help boosting tourism in the region. COO and Director, Jindal Stainless, Shri Tarun Khulbe said that the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India has prioritised infrastructure development in India's Northeast region along with the integration of the Northeast with the rest of India. Jindal Stainless has believed in the overall progress of the communities wherever they have been present in different capacities. The industrial and cultural hubs created in Hisar and Jajpur are testimony to this fact. In the Northeast as well, Jindal Stainless is committed be partners in this virtual cycle of growth that causes economic prosperity along with socio-cultural and environmental upliftment.

The first ever Northeast Half Marathon, inaugurated on 5^th February, 2023 was completed with great fervor. The JSL NFR Northeast Half Marathon was flagged off at N. F. Railway Sports Association (NFRSA) Stadium, Maligaon (Guwahati) in presence of Shri Nisith Pramanik, Hon’ble Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Sports & Youth Affairs, Govt of India, Shri G.P. Singh/DGP Assam, General Manager of N. F. Railway, Shri Anshul Gupta and Director of Jindal Stainless, Shri Tarun Khulbe in presence of many dignitaries. The event was graced with the presence of many eminent sports personalities of National and International fame. Around 7000 runners across India as well as from abroad took part in the Northeast Half Marathon.

           In line with our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of overall development of North-eastern region & nation building, Northeast Frontier Railway has partnered with Jindal Stainless, a leading stainless steel manufacturer and Innovations India to organize a series of Half Marathons in the North-eastern states. The Northeast Half Marathons are being conducted across North East India with the aim of empowering the sportspersons and development of sporting activity in Northeast India.

Participants competed in three different race categories - 21 Km, 10 Km and 5 Km run both for men and women. The 21 Km- long half marathon began at 05:30 am starting from NFRSA stadium passing through Gosala, Jalukbari PP and up to Hajo Road and returned back to NFRSA stadium. Among the 21 Km-long half marathon runners, Paul Eyanae from Kenya won the men’s race in 01:02:15 while Chernet from Ethiopia won the women’s race in 01:09:39.8. Berhanu (Ethiopia) came second in 01:02:19 in the men’s race while Emebet (Ethiopia) emerged as second runner in the women’s race clocking 01:12:59.2. James Kiplating of Kenya bagged third position in men’s race clocking 01:02:54 while Indian runner Neetu Kumari bagged third position in Women’s race in 01:13:37 in the 21 Km-long half marathon. Winners of 21 Km, 10 Km and 5 Km run for both the categories were awarded with prize money, medals and certificates.

The second event of this series is scheduled to be organised at Darjeeling o­n 26^thFebruary, 2023, followed by third at Tawang o­n 12^th March, 2023.The NE Half Marathon would highlight all states of Northeast India as o­ne entity and would surely catapult the complete Northeast Region of India into limelight at both National & International Platforms.

A website related to the Northeast Half Marathon is designed for o­nline registration. The aspirant participants can visit http://www.nehalfmarathon.com/ and all the social media platforms of N. F. Railway for accessing details about upcoming events of the series.