Delhi Half Marathon course route unveiled

New Delhi: The organisers of the Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) on Wednesday announced the course route for the fifth edition of the event scheduled to be held here on September 30.

Briefing the media about the event, race director Hugh Jones said that there was a slight change in the route for the 21.097km race from the previous edition. "The route more or less remains the same as last year with a few changes made in the 11-to-13km stretch involving the area of Sansad Marg and Janpath," Jones said. The men`s elite event will be flagged off from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the athletes will run through Lodhi Road, Mathura Road, Dr Zakir Hussain Marg, India Gate, Rajpath, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, Sansad Marg, Connaught Place and Janpath before finishing outside the main stadium complex, Procam international, which is organising the event, said. Also keeping in mind the prevailing hot conditions in the city, the organisers have decided to kick-off the competition a bit early. While the men`s elite event starts at 6:30hrs, the elite women`s event begins five minutes later as per the latest guidelines issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Jones said. As many as 31,746 participants, apart from the elite athletes, will run in the USD 210,000 event which boasts of a strong field of international runners including the season`s world leader half marathoner Atsedu Tsegay of Ethiopia. Besides a total prize purse of USD 210,000, the ADHM will also offer a bonus of USD 25,000 for a new world record and USD 10,000 for a new course record. Meanwhile, asked about the hot weather conditions in the city at this point of time, Jones said, "The athletes should look to keep themselves hydrated enough. They should start off with a clean slate without putting much emphasis on setting the new course record and see how the conditions unfold on that particular day." He added that the hot conditions will certainly have its effect on the participants but at the same time insisted that it will be a good contest. Asked why the races for men and women were separated by a small time of five minutes, he said that the decision was made in accordance with the new guidelines of the IAAF which came into effect from January this year. PTI