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Follow the sun.
DAWN TO DUSK CHENNAI MARATHON
Ultra effort to raise awareness
With the dawn of a new year, the season for Ultra efforts dawned too. The Dawn to Dusk Chennai Marathon was held on Sunday, 7th January. A great time to organise this event is the new year, with fitness and good health resolutions being fresh and riding high. A well-organized event like this one, which is the brainchild of Neville Billimoria of Neville Endeavours Foundation and the D2D team. What is this team, you ask? Why, just all the big names in Chennai's running, cycling and trekking circles: Chennai Runners, Dream Runners, Chennai Trekking Club and Cool Runners come together to raise a challenge for good health and raise money for worthy causes.
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The name would trick you into thinking of some ultra-marathon running through the day till evening. But the reality is that this is a 6-and6 split of running & cycling. Why? So those who love both can participate in both and have themselves a dawn to dusk of running and cycling love.
The community actually asked that they be given this option, and the organisers were only too happy to oblige.
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Running: 45 Km and plus / 42.19 Km / 21.09 Km / 10 Km / 5 Km / 3 Km / 2 km / 1 Km / 800 Meters / 400 Meters / 200 Meters
Cycling: 100 and plus Km / 100 Km / 75 Km / 50 Km / 25 Km
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We are in Chennai and there is never a dearth of star power, superstar Arvind Swami flagged off the event at dawn, on the East Coast, at the beautiful and historical Anna University Campus.
About 4,408 participants started off at different stages of the sun's journey out of the Bay of Bengal. A stunning bit of data is that there were 450 children below 16 years among participants. 2,214 men and 980 women in the running event and about 382 men & women took part in cycling event in various distances covering a total distance of 219.1 kms.
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At times more important than the results are the intentions, D2D was an event for a cause and awareness and it did exactly that, bringing together the community, giving them a different format and raising INR 40,00,000 for Adyar Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai for the treatment of cancer affected patients. Take a bow Chennai!!
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