62- year-old among 11 from Sambhajinagar to run 90km in SA

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Balaji Naragude (62) is among the 11 athletes from the city, who have qualified for the Comrades Marathon scheduled to take place in South Africa during the second week of June.The 90-km run is considered one of the toughest ultra marathons in the world. Eleven athletes from the city have been selected on the basis of their performance in the Tata Mumbai Marathon held recently.Naragude, an entrepreneur, said it will a memorable occasion for him to take part in the Comrades Marathon. “I love running and taking part in different marathons across the country. The running activity helps me defying my age and avoid stress in daily life,” he said.Bhausaheb Gawli, Vinay Agrawal, Gorakshanath Waman, Uday Deshpande, Sudhir Kulkarni, Satish Yadav, Nitin Ghorpade, Bhagwan Magar, Kishor Desale and Tushar Pradhan are among the other athletes from the city, who are participating in the Comrades Marathon.“A special felicitation event was held at Divisional Sports Complex here where 11 athletes were offered best wishes for the mega event. Runners Satish Gujran and Dr Ajit Ghule — who excelled in the Comrades Marathon in the past — offered their guidance to athletes,” Manoj Jadhav, one of the organisers of the felicitation event, said.