| 
               
              Mumbai: 
              More than 38,000 people, including celebrities, senior citizens 
              and many on wheel chairs, are set to participate in the Standard 
              Chartered Mumbai Marathon Sunday that begins from Chhatrapati 
              Shivaji Terminus in south Mumbai. 
               
              A whopping 38,430 young and old, amateur and professional runners, 
              would participate across different categories in the eighth 
              edition of the marathon, making it bigger and better this season. 
               
              "The full marathon (42.195 km) has received 2,800 entries, while 
              the half marathon has 11,000 people running a distance of 21.097 
              km," said Vivek Singh, joint managing director of Procam 
              International, the organisers. 
               
              The prize money of a total of $325,000 promises an enhanced prize 
              to Indian male and female full marathon winners who will now 
              receive $6,500 as against the $6,000 prize money last year. 
               
              Also participating in this year's marathon are 1,800 runners in 
              the senior citizens' run category, while the wheelchair event has 
              300 participants.  
               
              "The dream run of six km has 22,500 runners, the highest number of 
              participants across all categories," said Singh. 
               
              Known for its charity aspect, the marathon will see participation 
              from 179 NGOs and 132 companies and corporate houses each 
              promising to raise a minimum of a lakh rupees towards several 
              causes. 
               
              The celebrity quotient of the event is also very high, thereby 
              helping the event to support charities.  
               
              Film and television personalities like John Abraham, Rahul Bose, 
              Cyrus Sahukar, Purab Kohli, Gul Panag, Vivek Oberoi, Tara Sharma 
              and the likes are set to be the centre of attraction during the 
              event. 
               
              Not to be forgotten are business tycoons like Anil Ambani, Anand 
              Mahindra, Riyadh Kundanmal, Ravi Trehan and socialites like Shobha 
              De, the 'dream champions' (individuals raising Rs.10 lakh and 
              above in charity) of the marathon. 
              
                
              
                
              
                
              
                
              
                
              
                
               |