Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club (BCAC) organized its 4th edition of Puri Beach Marathon which witnessed the massive participation of over 500 athletes.
The Puri Beach Marathon 2024 was flagged off from Samuka Beach in Puri at the sea-mouth of Mangala River by senior IPS officer Sanjeeb Panda, Additional DGP Cum President BCAC along with Ajay Kumar Nanda, Secretay BCAC in the morning.
The event witnessed a massive participation with more than 500 athletes including 80 women from different parts of the country and from countries like Ethiopia , Kenya and UK.
The Puri Beach Marathon had two types of running courses. The Half-Marathon course was designed as a return route of 10.55Kms from the Samuka Beach of Mangala River Sea Mouth till Bali Harachandi Beach and back. The 7KM fun run participants started from the same starting point and covered 3.5Kms distance towards Bali Harachandi and returned to the same starting point after taking a U-Turn.
The Beach Marathon was quite a tough marathon, where participants have to run on the uneven surface of sandy beach with different inclinations at each step. Apart from the soft sandy beach, the uneven surface provided a real challenge to the runners on the entire course. Even such challenging circumstances couldn’t hinder the advancement of the determined souls and witnessed some fine performances by budding athletes. With the tune of bands and cheers of the crowd, the runners completed their preferred route through bare feet and snickers. BCAC has provisioned for water and aid stations on the route at every 3.5 km, and volunteers were present to cheer up the runners.
BCAC also has provisions for Cash Prizes of Rs 2 lakh for the winners and podium finishers. Apart from the prizes, the participants received a specially designed Finisher Medal, Event T-Shirt and Digital Certificates upon successful completion.
The first prize of Rs 50000 for 21 km half marathon was awarded to Ashok Dandasena of Odisha – who completed with a Time of 01 Hour 17 Mins 25 Secs.
The 2nd Prize of Rs 30,000 was awarded to Panchanan Bera from West Bengal with – Time: 01 Hour 17 Mins 29 Secs
The 3rd Prize of Rs 20,000 was given to Yosef Getahun Abebe of Ethiopia with time – 01 Hour 17 Mins 46 Secs.
Sanjeeb Panda, Addl. DG of Police and President BCAC, Siddharth Shankar Swain, Collector Puri, Ajay Nanda , Secretary BCAC felicitated the winners with cash prize trophies. On this occasion, Sanjeeb Panda, the President of BCAC announced to make the Puri Beach Marathon an annual event on the first Sunday of December every year and to take it to the next level to attract talent from all over the country and abroad.
BCAC profusely thanks all its volunteers and sponsors Secuodsot, Woodland Odisha, Jindal Steel for the grand success of this event.
Always committed towards offering something innovative and new to the field of adventure, BCAC has earlier conducted mega cycling events like Vietnam to Cambodia, Bhubaneswar to Bhutan, Cuttack to Kathmandu, Manali to Khardung La in the Himalayas. BCAC also conducts Golden Triangle Cycling Championship (GTCC) on 2nd Sunday of February every year. BCAC is committed to improve the cycling and running culture in the State.
