Second phase of marathon kicks off in Jaipur from Friday

JAIPUR: The first multi-city marathon, second phase of the great India run, will kick off from Jaipur early on Friday morning at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Former Olympian and Padamshri Krishna Poonia will flag off the 1480 km marathon race.
The Ultra Marathon race reached Jaipur on Thursday from Manoharpur. A run race of 5km will also be held on the morrow where local people will run for recreation.
As many as 15 marathon racers from Asia, Africa and USA are taking part in multi city Ultra Marathon race which started from last Sunday from India gate in New Delhi and will draw curtains at the Gateway of India in Mumbai on August 6.
Runner Bharadwaj plays perfect father: Arun Bhardwaj, a renowned marathoner, shares his reason for still continuing with his passion. "So far the journey has been fantastic. Incessant rains created some problems but we crossed the hurdles like a soldier," said the 47-year old Bhardwaj.
"I have two daughters and one son and I run for them to motivate people for a social cause. “They too run like me daily," he added.
Bhardwaj, who had run 9500 km so far across 13 countries and holds a national record, says she wants to set an example for his daughter Zola.
"I want to spread the message for my daughter Zola”, he said. “When I got my daughters I had started running at the age of 30."
Bharadwaj's most noteworthy result has been becoming the only Indian finisher at the Badwater Ultra marathon dubbed as the toughest race in the world.