New Delhi, Nov 2 (IANS): The 20th edition of Salwan Marathon was held here Sunday with over 50,000 students from over 800 schools participating in the event. Indian athletes Pinki Jangra, Mandeep Jangra and Arpinder Singh also ran as volunteers in the race.

The event witnessed the participation of over 2,500 visually impaired and intellectually challenged students who ran 4.5 km with a volunteer escort. Schools from many states of the country, includng Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, participated in the event.

The organisers claimed that they had carefully planned a route that was tougher than previous years with the installation of multiple cameras along the race route to ensure adequate safety nd security of the children.

This edition also saw introduction of Global Positioning System (GPS) based chip technology to track the distance and location covered by each participant in the Under-18 boys category to prevent cheating.

The marathon races categorised participants in eight different categories - visually impaired and intellectually challenged (4.5 km), Under-14 girls and boys (4.5 km), Under-6 girls and boys (6 km) and Under-18 girls and boys (8 km).

“The response to the marathon this year is a testament to the enthusiasm among the children who have gathered from all over the country to run and compete today. It is their passion and zeal which acts as the driving force for the run," Samrata Salwan Diwan, spokesperson, Salwan Cross Country Run, said on the sidelines of the event.

"Our main focus is the safety and security of the children, and we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Army Services Sports Control Board, the 5,000 marshalls and volunteers, and specially the Delhi Police, who have extended all their support to ensure that everything went off smoothly,” Samrata said.