Eight women and seven men from neighbouring countries India, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives have entered to participate in the half marathon to be held in Sri Lanka on January 22 at Diyatha Uyana.
This event is open to men and women over 18-years of age and a total of Rs. 1.2 million will be presented to the winners.
Each winner in the men’s and women’s categories will be presented with Rs. 200,000, first runner-up Rs. 150,000, second runner-up Rs. 100,000, fourth place Rs. 75,000 and fifth place Rs. 50,000.
The half marathon of 21 kilometres, will start at 6 a.m. from Diyatha Uyana and go through Ethul Kotte, Sirikotha, Pagoda Road, Nugegoda Super Market Junction, High Level Road to Maharagama, Pannipitiya, Borella Road, Thalawathugoda, Battaramulla Junction and finish at Diyatha Uyana.
Entries closed on January 12 but late entries will be accepted until January 20 and already over a hundred athletes have entered.
There will also be a health run of five kilometres that is expected to be participated by school children along with their parents.
“This event is arranged to bring about awareness of healthy living to their lives,” said Maj Gen Palitha Fernando, President of Sri Lanka Athletics.
This is the first of the centenary celebrations of SLA that is lined up for this year. Fernando said that 2020 was a bad year with the outbreak of Covid-19 that brought about inactivity. But SLA conducted all meets in 2021 with athletes participating in five international meets. The year 2022 will focus on youth athletes who will be the future representatives of Sri Lanka according to Fernando.
Sri Lankan runners will be provided with skinny tops with their numbers on it. However the foreign runners will have their own kits with special numbers on it.
The two events will be sponsored once again by Nestle under their brand name Nestomalt which has been sponsoring Sri Lanka’s biggest marathons for over three decades.
“All participants will be insured. We have been supporting athletics for nearly 35 years now and was able to bring out the village athletes to perform at a high level. Maj. Gen. Palitha Fernando was the pioneer in organizing marathons in Sri Lanka with the support of Nestle,” said Bandula Egodage the Vice President Corporate and Regulatory Affairs of Nestle.
Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) has obtained clearance from the Health Department and the Education Ministry to ensure that as many students will be participating in the race.