Soro marathon attracts young & old

Bhubaneswar: For 57-year-old mathematics lecturer Manas Ranjan Panda, completing the 10-km Soro marathon on Sunday was more than reaching the finishing line. It was an indicator of his fitness on which he has been working for four years when the first Soro marathon was organised by Chicago-based NRI Nihar Rout in 2022."Practising to run the stretch throughout the year has not only made me fitter but also gives me the stamina to work for 12 to 14 hours a day," said Panda, who initially started running for 5km in 2022. Regular running has helped the Upendra Nath College, Soro, lecturer get rid of medicines, reduce his weight and give him a disciplined lifestyle.Similarly, Adyasa Das, 29, a commerce lecturer and taekwondo trainer, felt having an annual marathon event in the town has prompted many people to exercise regularly and improve their fitness so that they would be able to run when the marathon is organised in winter."I wait for the Soro marathon every year. It has made me more health-conscious," said Rashmita Sahu, 48, a homemaker and vice-president of Soro marathon organising committee.Echoing a similar opinion, Adyasa, who works at Anantpur-based Saraswata Mahavidyalaya near Soro, said, "The annual event has increased the craze for fitness among people, particularly women, who are bound in tradition. I often see people walking and running with the intention of participating. The marathon requires a tremendous amount of preparation from commoners."This year, 1,626 people registered for the marathon with more than half of them being repeat participants from previous years. The marathon started from the Town Hall and ended there, after passing near SN High School, Soro, with participants having the choice of running either 5 km or 10 km. Altogether, 230 volunteers managed the on-ground affairs."The idea behind organising a marathon in a place like Soro is to create awareness at the ground-level at places where people don't get to participate in these events. The only events they get to see are festivals," said Nihar, an engineer.He has found that people from small places love these events because not many can afford to travel to Bhubaneswar or a bigger city. "In the US, people travel very far and plan a lot to run a marathon," said Nihar, who has travelled from Chicago to Tokyo, Berlin and London to run marathons.Lauding the effort, banker Brajakishore Kar, 58, from Pentei village, 12 km from Soro, opined that the marathon should be better publicised, particularly in nearby villages, so that fitness becomes integral to their lives too."Diseases are not confined to the urban population but villagers too suffer from lifestyle changes," said Kar, adding that an event like a marathon can help lead a better life.Soro MLA Madhab Dhada inaugurated the marathon. Also present were DIG (eastern range) Pinak Mishra, Soro tehsildar Daitari Mallik, executive officer, Soro Municipality, Biswaranjan Pradhan, BJP's Balasore district president Iswar Behera, social worker Sashi Kumar Sahu, actors Dhara Srabani and Mitu Mithun, president, Soro marathon, Sanjay Kumar Das and secretary Saumya Santa Amrita Pattanayak.As part of the marathon event, a hour-and-a-half yoga session was organised at a Radhanath field in Soro in the afternoon. Yoga instructors Neeta Mohanty from Chicago and Khagapati Meher from Gayatri Parivar, Shantikunj, Haridwar, led the session, in which around 250 people participated.

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