Army Chief Inaugurates Annual Open Marathon Competition 2082 in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, February 7: This year's 'Army Chief Open Marathon Competition 2082' concluded today. The competition was inaugurated by Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel at a ceremony held at the Army Headquarters, organized by the Nepali Army Physical Training and Sports Center.

The theme for this year's competition was 'Strong Unity, Secure Nation'. The event included a 42.195 km men's marathon and a 21 km half marathon for both men and women categories. Cash prizes of NPR 300,000, NPR 200,000, and NPR 100,000 will be awarded today to the first, second, and third place winners in the marathon, respectively.

In the half marathon, male and female athletes securing first, second, and third places will each receive NPR 100,000, NPR 75,000, and NPR 50,000, respectively. A 10 km run was organized with the participation of military officers, military associates, staff working at military colleges, retired and serving personnel of all ranks of the army, and children of non-military personnel studying in grades 10 to 12.

Army Chief Sigdel and other military and non-military individuals participated in the five km walkathon. Students studying in grades 7 to 9 at the military college completed the five km run.

Winners in the men's and women's categories for the 10 km and five km runs will receive cash prizes of NPR 10,000, NPR 7,000, and NPR 5,000 for first, second, and third place, respectively. Approximately 2,500 runners participated across five different categories in this 11th edition of the competition, which has been organized annually since 2072 on the occasion of Mahashivaratri and Army Day. Mahashivaratri and Army Day fall on Falgun 3 this year.

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