Fiercely charging ahead to spread road safety awareness, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India’s first edition of Honda Manesar Half Marathon concluded on a high note last Sunday.
Running for the noble cause of ‘Run for Road Safety’, the event witnessed participation from more than 2100 people across different age group.
Flagged-off from the HMSI’s global resource factory in Manesar (Haryana), the marathon was curated to inch a step closer towards Honda’s global vision – ‘Strive for zero traffic collision fatalities involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles globally by 2050’. Further taking the noble cause of road safety ahead, HMSI partnered with the NGO DVnity Services and donated entire proceeds of the marathon to support their road safety initiatives.
Speaking on the occasion, Atsushi Ogata, Managing Director, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India said “While India grapples with the problem of accidents on the road, it is crucial that people understand their roles and responsibilities not only as a rider or driver but also as an aid to those affected. This run for Road Safety is a mass movement. We are delighted to see the enthusiasm with which people came forward to join this noble cause. Every step taken by participants today would play a big role in realizing our goal of spreading awareness with respect to road safety through this marathon. We are thankful to various Government authorities of Manesar and Gurugram, Industry association of IMT Manesar and Various Industries situated in IMT Manesar for their unending support in making this event a huge success.”
The event was graced by fitness icons Milind Soman (Model, Actor and Runner) and Mandira Bedi (Actress & Presenter) who boosted the morale of participants and kept their sprits high throughout the run.
To appease to people of all age groups, the marathon was divided into four major categories – 21.1 Km, 10 Km, 5 Km & 3 Km Run for Senior Citizen.
Over 600 runners took part in the half marathon (21.1 Km) while around 700 competed in the 10 Km run. The 5 Km & 3 Km run saw over 800 participants including more than 25 underprivileged kids from the NGO Bhayat.
Ranjeet Kumar Patel with timing of 01:06:09 and Rina Sharma with total time of 01:19:289 were the fastest in male and female categories of 21.1 km run and won a Honda Activa. Whereas Anil Kumar Yadav and Arjun Pradhan took second and third positions in male category and Badho & Sonam took second and third positions in female category of the same.
In 10 Km run, Tannu Vats and Love Chaudhary were the fastest and won cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- each. Furthermore, Pratap Singh Lamba was the one lucky participant who won the Honda H’Ness CB350 in the mega lucky draw.