The 12th edition Hexaware Dream Runners Half Marathon 2023 conducted on July 16, at the Olcott School, Besant Nagar, was a huge success, with over 6500 runners participating in the event.
The Hexaware Dream Runners Half Marathon is a fundraising event. This year, they are donating prosthetic limbs to amputees through their charity partner, Freedom Trust, Thiruvanmiyur. Some of the recipients of the prosthetic limbs walked proudly on the event day.
The marathon also donated pressure garments to the victims of burns from acid attack or domestic violence, through the charity partner, International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC).
This year, the marathon kit bags were also made by special needs children from Vijay Human Services. The race day also had a separate run for visually challenged runners who were paced with guide runners.
The Hexaware Dream Runners Half Marathon also strives to keep Chennaiites fit, and encourages more women to take up running to stay fit. Structured training is provided to help women embark on their running journey. Plogging is another key highlight of the run. Plogger volunteers run the entire route to keep the run litter free as much as possible.
This edition also saw the marathon getting the AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races in partnership with World Athletics for measuring road races) certification. Runners can use their timing from the event to qualify for major world marathons that accept a required minimum half marathon time to qualify to their event.
The Hexaware Dream Runners Half Marathon is organised by Dream Runners, one of the largest running groups with 12 chapters present across Chennai- Besant Nagar, Boat Club, MRC, Marina, Anna Nagar, OMR, Avadi, Airport, Velachery, Medavakkam (2 chapters), and T-Nagar. The group launched its 13th Chapter this year in Coimbatore, Coimbatore Dreamers.
