Shah Rukh to attend Delhi Half Marathon

Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan will be the star attraction at this year's Delhi Half Marathon to be held on November 1 here.

"Shah Rukh Khan will be coming for the event. He has given his confirmation," Dilip Jayram, COO, Procam Internationals, the promoters of the event, said.

"There will be lot more Bollywood and sports celebrities during the event. We will let you know as the time progresses," he added.

The organisers said it would be mandatory for all the participants in the 'Half Marathon' category to wear a specially designed timing chip on their legs to generate authentic results.

Vivek B Singh, Joint Managing Director of Procam International, said a time certificate would be issued on the basis of the result generated.

"The chip will generate all information about the player like who is he, which country is he from, in which race he is participating, how many breaks he took during the race and his final timing. This whole concept is unique in itself," Singh said.

Hugh Jones, the Technical Director of the event, said the event had been oversubscribed with entries much before its scheduled closing and this is the testimony of the fact that race had become an established brand.

"This is indicative how things have changed for this event in these five years. The race has attracted great athletics and has gained international reputation. The IAAF has conferred Gold Label status to our three races," Jones said.

"A total of 100 elite athletes have confirmed their participation, which include 23 men and 26 women from international circuit and 16 women from India," he said.

Ashok Omar, Medical Director of the race, said to ensure the well being of the participants, six medical stations along the route and one base medical station would be set up to be manned by 120 doctors.

"Besides them, nurses and other support staff will be there to take care in case any medical emergency arises. There will also be seven fully equipped ambulances with ventilators stationed along the route to ensure prompt action. Each station will be made interconnected through cell phones," Omar said.

Elaborating on the arrangements, Singh said there will be a total of 13 water stations along the route to keep the participants hydrated and about 80,000 litres of water will be distributed through these water stations. Around 250 private security guards and 650 volunteers will coordinate with traffic and civil police to ensure smooth conduct of the race.