Maligaon, March 01: The 2nd edition of the JSL – NFR Northeast Half Marathon series has been completed successfully in the iconic Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) on 26th February, 2023.
The marathon race was flagged off in the gracious presence of Hon’ble MP from Darjeeling Shri Raju Bista; General Manager of N. F. Railway, Shri Anshul Gupta and Director of Jindal Stainless, Shri Tarun Khulbe. Jamling Norgay (son of the legendary Tenzing Norgay); Mira Rai, winner of National Geographic Adventurer of the Year; Uday Kumar, Parathlete; Gaurav Jajodia, CEO of Jai Balaji Group and many others dignitaries were also present.
With the prime objective of ‘Empowering Sports in North Bengal & Sikkim areas and Promoting the iconic DHR – a UNESCO World Heritage site’, this well-liked JSL – NFR Northeast Half Marathon has been organised by N. F. Railway jointly with its various stakeholders at picturesque Darjeeling.
The supporting groups viz. Darjeeling Enfielders, Darjeeling Mountain Bikers, Darjeeling Police and Administration, Yuma Hospitals, Vikrun Foundation and Jai Balaji Group have joined hands to make the event grand successful.
The event has been successful in bringing this region into limelight at both National & International sporting platforms as a large number of runners from all part of India and abroad had took part in the race.
Participants competed in three different race categories – 21 Km, 10 Km and 5 Km run both for men and women. Among the 21 Km-long half marathon runners, Belete Mekonen from Ethiopia won the first position in 01:09.4 while Gajindra Rai from Nepal bagged the second position in 01:11.5 and James Kipleting from Kenya emerged as third runner with a timing of 01:11.6 in the men’s race.
In the women category, Jalina Kore from Ethiopia finished her run clocking 01:09.5 and became the first while Tamsi Singh of Uttar Pradesh (India) bagged second position in 01:18.6 and Preity Rai of Kurseong (West Bengal) ranked third with a timing of 01:24.4. Winners of 21 Km, 10 Km and 5 Km run for both the categories were awarded with prize money, medals and certificates.
On this occasion, Hon’ble MP Shri Raju Bista expressed his gratitude and thanked Railway for organizing such an important event at Darjeeling. The General Manager, Shri Anshul Gupta informed that more such events would be organized by this zone for heralding new era to the sporting activities and NE Half Marathon at Darjeeling would help boosting tourism in the region.
COO and Director, Jindal Stainless, Shri Tarun Khulbe said that the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has prioritised infrastructure development in India’s Northeast region along with the integration of the Northeast with the rest of India. Jindal Stainless has believed in the overall progress of the communities wherever they have been present in different capacities.
The industrial and cultural hubs created in Hisar and Jajpur are testimony to this fact. In the Northeast as well, Jindal Stainless is committed be partners in this virtual cycle of growth that causes economic prosperity along with socio-cultural and environmental upliftment.
In line with the Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Developing Northeast & Nation Building’, the N. F. Railway in association with Innovations India Pvt. Ltd. has been organising a series of JSL – NFR Northeast Half Marathon in the North-eastern region. This brilliant initiative by NFR would not only empower the sportspersons of Northeast India but also create a lot of synergies for their overall growth.
