LAHORE : Punjab Youth Affairs and Sports Department successfully organised Chief Minister Punjab National Marathon and Cycling Race, the biggest sports event in the country’s history at Liberty Chowk on Sunday.
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More than 11 thousand male and female athletes and citizens of diverse age groups participated in the mega sports event in which Women’s 5-km Marathon, Women’s 5-km Cycling Race, 2-km Family Fun Race and 1-km Wheelchair Race were also conducted.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar, who also participated in the cycling race, was the chief guest on this occasion.
Vice-Chairman Sports Board Punjab Malik Suleman, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muhammad Ali, Director General Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi, Director Admin Abid Shaukat, Director Sports Chand Perveen, Deputy Director Zahoor Ahmed, former Olympian Shabana Akhtar, sports officials and a large number of sports enthusiasts were also present on this occasion.
Punjab Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar distributed hefty cash prizes of Rs 38 lakh among the winners and prominent performers of marathon and cycling races.
Talking to media, Punjab Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that the grand event is the true picture of Chief Minister Punjab’s vision of Khelta Punjab. “We are targeting the registration of one lakh athletes in our next mega event planned for October/November this year.”
Punjab Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that it was the biggest sports event in the history of Pakistan in which male and female athletes and citizens of different age groups participated. “It is nice to see athletes from Sindh, KPK and other parts of the country participating in the mega event. We are ready to cooperate with other provinces for holding mega sports events like this”.
Punjab Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar also lauded the role of Rescue-1122, police and other relevant departments for making event a success. “I congratulate the administration of Sports Board Punjab for the excellent arrangements and successful organization of sports extravaganza”.
Sprinters from Sahiwal dominated the proceeding in the 21-km Men’s Marathon. M Akhtar won the first position in the 21-km Men’s Marathon. M Amir secured the second position while M Irfan got the third position. The cash prizes of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1 lakh were given to the first, second and third position holders respectively.
Karachi’s Ali Ilyas excelled and attained first position in Men’s 21-km cycling event. Aqib Shah of Lahore remained runners up while Sanaullah of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finished third in this event. Cash prizes of Rs 2 lakh, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 were awarded to the top three position holders respectively.
In the 5-km Women’s Marathon, the top three positions were taken by Mahnoor, Nazia Ehsan, and Maria. They were awarded cash prizes of Rs 2 lakh, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively.
The girls from Karachi – Zainab, Anisa and Rabia dominated the 5-km Women’s Cycling event and secured top three positions. They were awarded cash prizes of Rs one lakh, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively.
In Wheelchair Race, the top three positions were claimed by Ahmed Yar, Zahid Nazir and Nawaz Rashid respectively. They bagged cash prizes of Rs 75,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively for their excellent performance in the wheelchair race. Rabia Fayaz was the only female athlete in the Wheelchair Race. She was awarded a cash prize of Rs 50,000. It may be noted here that all the athletes participating in the Wheelchair Race were awarded cash prizes of Rs 10,000 each. Cash prizes were also given to athletes from 4th to 20th position in all other races.
