Province-3 govt, municipalities to support Kathmandu Marathon

Kathmandu, December 19

ProSports is organising the 13th Kathmandu Marathon on Saturday with the aim of contributing in economic growth through sports tourism.

Around 5,000 athletes are expected to take part in the event which features 10 categories — men’s marathon, women’s marathon, men’s half marathon, women’s half marathon, corporate relay, 5km open race, 5km boys’ race, 5km girls’ race, 3km wheelchair race and family run, informed the organisers at a press meet today. “December is usually off season for tourism industry and we are trying to bring in tourists in this period of time and also help the government in its bid to celebrate the Visit Nepal Year 2020,” said Pro Sports Executive Director Bagmati Rai.

Province-3 government has accepted the event as its own, while Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi municipalities have also joined hands with the organisers to make the marathon a grand success, informed the organisers. “We could not incorporate the event in the budget this year as we were late to recognise the marathon. We will keep the event in our programme and allocate budget from next year,” said Minister for Tourism Arun Prasad Nepal.

Province-3 government and Kathmandu Metropolitan City have already committed Rs 500,000 each, while Bhaktapur Municipality will provide the organisers with Rs 100,000, informed the organisers. “We had started the event with a concept of city marathon and we are trying our best to include as many foreigners as we can to take it to the next level,” said Chief Organiser Nilendra Raj Shrestha, who is also the Secretary General of Nepal Olympic Committee. He also urged the Nepal Police for smooth traffic management during the marathon.

The marathon will start from Tripureshwor and go through Thapathali, Kupondole, UN Park, Shankhamul, New Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Jadibuti, Gatthaghar, Suryabinayak, Ram Mandir, Old Thimi, Pepsi Cola, Jadibuti, Tinkune, Airport, Gaushala, Rato Pool, Naxal, Baluwatar, Nepal Police Training Centre, Durbarmarg and Bhadrakali before ending at the Dasharath Stadium.

Top three athletes in marathon will receive Rs 50,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000, while the winners in half marathon will get Rs 20,000, Rs 13,000 and Rs 7,000 respectively. Top three in corporate relay will earn Rs 20,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000, while the winners in 5km and family races will get Rs 10,000. The top three athletes in boys, girls and wheelchair sections will receive Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively.

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