TIMES CITYTHE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

The TOI-NGS Happy Streets venue, the CG Road, acquired extra bustle on Sun-day mor ning be-

cause the Sabarmati mara-thon had necessitated several road blocks, making many walk additional kilometres to enjoy the Happy Streets expe-rience. The Zumba corner was packed — the usual partici-pants had made it. A small group of par-ents had organized a story-telling exer-cise for children near the Bachpan gully. And a special ‘Wall of Kisses’ was erect-ed by TOI; men and women wore lip-sticks to plant kisses for the “Great In-dian Lover” initiative.

A citizen-connect opportunity was provided by a team of the anti-corruption wing of the CBI was at Happy Streets en-couraging Amdavadis to report of corrupt central government officials. “We were edu-cating people on how to complain to the CBI,” a senior CBI official said. “We told them how we lay traps and how quick the agency is when deal-ing with complaints from citizens. We told visitors how secrecy is

maintained by the agency if provided with authentic infor-mation on disproportionate assets.”

Students from St Kabir School, Navrangpura, organ-ized street games and even encouraged people to indulge in street art. At a small corner, they held a kho kho competi-tion. A little ahead near Pan-chvati were the Zumba buffs. Zumba trainers Nitin Solanki, Ripal Shah, and Navin Agar-

wal ensured that fitness freaks enjoyed their three hours at Happy Streets.

Dhimant Parekh, a science teacher oversaw the special story-telling

exercise for children. “The idea was to teach children how

t o d r aw m i n d m ap s, ” s a i d Parekh.

“ T h i s helped chil-

dren in organizing their thoughts and con-

cepts, and in removing clutter. The children came up with amazing stories. I will repeat the exercise next Sunday at Happy Streets.”

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

More than 11,000 partici-pants turned up at the riverfront for the fifth

edition of the Sabarmati Mara-thon this year on Sunday.

Despite the swine flu scare, the venue was packed. A number of special marathon groups, including a tribal team of runners from Dub Ghantoodi in Banaskatha district, became the highlight of the marathon apart from few veterans’ clubs.

Like previous years, runners from African countries topped the medal tally with Malaku Bizu winning the overall full mara-thon in the male category, while Ber-han Gebre won in the female catego-ry. Both took away a reward of Rs 6 lakh each.

In the Indian full marathon category, Vishal Dangi and Prahlad Meena took the first and second place in the male category, while in the female category, Shyamali Singh and Vijaymala Mahadev got the first and second place. The awards were given away by group pres-

ident (corporate affairs and projects), RIL Parimal Nath-wani.

However, towards the begin-ning of the award distribution,

many participants of the half mara-thon were disap-pointed after the organizers ran out of participation

medals at the venue. The pro-testing participants calmed down after Ahmedabad Mu-nicipal Corporation officials reassured them that they would get the medals from Danapith office on Tuesday. Also, there were 15 instances of medical conditions during the marathon which were attended to by the EMRI 108 ambulance service.

Amdavadis Enjoy Another Sunday On CG Road, Focusing On Fitness And Fun; CBI Joins In With Vital Message

Happy streets, Ahmedabad

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Feb 22 | 6am to 9.30am | CG Road: Stadium Crossroads to Panchvati

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Endurance mantra: Miles to go as Ahmedabad sleeps

SABARMATIMARATHON

PASSAGE TO URBAN WELL-BEING

A group of tribal children who participated in the event

Pics: Yogesh Chawda

Pics: Yogesh Chawda