The Hexaware Dream Runners Half Marathon’s 13th edition was flagged off on July 21, by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Ma. Subramanian, along with the Dream Runners Race Management Team (Race Director Abbas Lehry, Sathyanarayanan and Sujatha). An avid runner himself, the minister who has completed over 155 marathons ran the 21.1 km distance on race day.
An annual fixture amongst Chennai’s fitness and running community, the event was a huge success with over 5500 runners participating in the event.
The Hexaware Dream Runners Half Marathon is a fundraiser organised by Dream Runners, one of Chennai’s prominent running groups with Chapters present across Chennai – Besant Nagar, Boat Club, MRC, Marina, Anna Nagar, OMR, Avadi, Airport, Velachery, Medavakkam, T.Nagar and Coimbatore.
Every year, proceeds from the event go towards donating prosthetic limbs to amputees through their charity partner, Freedom Trust. Some of the recipients of the prosthetic limbs walked on the event day. The marathon also donates pressure garments to burn victims of acid attacks or domestic violence through charity partner International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC), and extends donation support to Vijay Human Services and Tamil Nadu Athletics Association.
The race day also saw a separate run organised for the visually challenged and for wheelchair runners who were paced by their guide runners.
The Hexaware Dream Runners Half Marathon strives to keep Chennai fit, and encourages more women to take up running to stay fit. Structured training is provided to help women embark on their running journey.
As an event that promotes clean run, plogging and support from volunteers, it ensured that the entire route and race venue, Olcott School ground, was kept litter-free post the event.
Further, in a conscious effort to minimise food wastage, the Dream Runners roped in No Food Waste. The NGO’s volunteers guided runners on food waste management on the ground. This initiative saved enough food to feed around 100 people.
