Delhi Half Marathon date advanced to 21 October after concerns over harmful winter smog in National Capital

New Delhi: The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is scheduled to be held on 21 October this year in a bid to avoid the winter smog and pollution in the national capital. The IAAF Gold Label Race will witness over 35,000 participants across five categories: Half Marathon (21.097km), Great Delhi Run (6km), Open 10K, Senior Citizens Run (4.3km) and Champions with Disability (2.4Km). [caption id=“attachment_4939761” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The high levels of pollution in Delhi last year sparked health concerns in the Delhi Half Marathon. Reuters[/caption] “We are pleased that the Promoters have taken into account the feedback from Airtel, our customers and citizens at large and brought forward the race day to October 21,” said Ravindra Singh Negi, Bharti Airtel Delhi-NCR CEO. “We hope this will help address some of the concerns relating to air pollution and the well-being of the participants and believe that all stakeholders need to continue collaborating and build on this positive initiative.” Procam International opened the registrations for the Half Marathon and Open 10K on Friday and it would stay open till 7 September. Registrations for the Great Delhi Run, Senior Citizens’ Run and the Champions with Disability Run also begun on Friday and it would close on 28 September. “This year is a special milestone for us, as Procam completes 30 years and to see our vision taking shape in this fashion is very satisfying,” said Vivek Singh, Procam International Joint Managing Director. “When we introduced this distance in Delhi, we always believed that it had the potential to be one of the world’s most prestigious races and importantly get Delhi running.” Ethiopian duo of Almaz Ayana, the Olympic and World 10,000m champion, and Berhanu Legese won gold medals in the 2017 Airtel Delhi half marathon. The 10th edition of the Delhi half marathon, which was held on 19 November last year, had got into controversy after there were calls to cancel the event due to prevalent air pollution in the national capital.