KARACHI: The NBP Commissioner Karachi Marathon 4 brought out the entire city, or so it seemed, to Nishan-i-Pakistan on Abdul Sattar Edhi Avenue better known as Seaview Road here on Sunday morning.

It was not about who participated in the marathon? It was more like who didn’t participate in it? Numerous categories pulled in numerous runners but quite frankly there were also some who ran despite having no category to their kind.

For instance, this race for human beings also had animals running. Haider Ilahi and Saad Farooq, two brothers running in the marathon, had come with their one-year-old pet German shepherd dog Saya, who they said followed them everywhere like their shadow. When asked what they would do if Saya grew tired, there was a unanimous shaking of heads. “Saya doesn’t ever get tired.”

There were parents with their children and the entire family was running. Sikander Ali was there with better half Noor Jehan and daughter Maiida Nehel. “My father was running and he dragged along me and Ammi too,” laughed the daughter. “I’m sure I’m not going to win anything but then we are here to have fun,” she added.

Nisar Ahmed, a watchman at the NED University, had brought with him his younger brother Jinsaar Ali and children Saira Batool, Hasan Nisar and Mohsin Nisar. All were running and had registered in their respective categories.

There were little kids, too, running in the Fun Category for children. They only had to run one kilometre, but then there were also some who opted for the 7.5 meters category.

There were participants in the differently-abled persons’ category also. Some of them were in sports wheelchairs and others gesturing to each other in sign language. There were also members of the armed forces all in tip-top shape.

Speaking of tip-top shape there were several boxers and karatekas, too. Noushad Fateh, an international boxer, had brought with him several of his boxer students, including national champion Maaz Khan. “Running is part of our daily routine so we thought why not run in the marathon too,” said Noushad.

Among the over-50 veterans’ category were Lala Hikmatullah, who came third in last year’s marathon. This year he was running 7.5km. There was also Dawn staffer Tahir Siddiqui, who had fever for the last three days, but was determined to run and was running 12km. “I’ve been running 10km in all the previous three marathons and I don’t want to break my momentum,” he said. Both Lala and Tahir won in their respective categories later.

There was a cancer survivor, Dilshad Hasnain, running in the women over-50 category. She said that she has had surgeries and been in the ICU, too, but her children helped her come back to life and get her interested in running. Dilshad, later also finished first in her category.

There were also some 40 or so persons all dressed in red chanting “Long Live Pakistan-Indonesia Friendship” slogans. They were an Indonesian team led by Ambassador Malik Kaleem Awan. “We were invited and are only doing an exhibition round this time,” said the ambassador. But the race did have many other international participants, Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, Malaysia, Morocco, Russia, etc, who ran and also won cash prizes and medals.

Registration for the marathon was done on the spot and was free though their were huge cash prizes for all the categories of the race.

There was the men’s and women’s categories subdivided into under-30, over-30, over-50 and then broken down further into 7.5 kilometres and 12 kilometres. There were also categories for differently-abled and special persons and children.

And in each category the first prize was Rs50,000, second Rs30,000 and third Rs20,000 along with gold, silver and bronze medals, trophies and certificates.

Registration for all categories opened two hours prior to the race with each participant also given a jersey. While registration was under way, there were various entertainers, including dhamal dancers and Makrani dancers, indigenous dancers, the police band and several other musicians offering excellent entertainment.

The commissioner of Karachi Mohammed Iqbal Memon said that everyone participating in the marathon deserved applause. “The marathon is meant to bring the citizens of Karachi together,” he said. “Healthy activities such as these energize the youth and build confidence in them to take ownership of the city. We aim to engage and empower the community through such activities for the promotion of healthy activities across the city. The event has strengthened the efforts to promote peace in the city,” he added.

Several dignitaries also attended the event, including Barrister Murtaza Wahab, adviser to chief minister of Sindh. He said that he was happy to see so much international participation and many winners among them also.

Dr Mohammed Sohail Rajput, chief secretary of Sindh, was the chief guest on the occasion. “I hope to see this marathon growing to the 42 kilometre marathon,” he said. “We should also try and add heritage sites in the route next time,” he added.

The winners were awarded cash prizes and gold medals by Rehmat Ali Hasnie, President and CEO of the National Bank of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2023