Chennai Marathon 2024: 22,000 runners take part, Abhishek Soni, Sheilah Jepkorir emerge winners

Abhishek Soni from Madhya Pradesh won the men’s full marathon, while Sheilah Jepkorir of Kenya won the women’s full marathon in the 12th edition of the Chennai Marathon held here on Saturday.

The Chennai Marathon 2024, powered by Chennai Runners, saw over 20,000 enthusiastic runners participating across categories. The sea of runners was cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd that had gathered at various points along the route early in the morning from 3.30 a.m. onwards.

The full marathon and twenty miler started from Napier bridge on Saturday at 4 a.m. and was flagged off by Jayanth Murali IPS (retd.) The Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai, Sandeep Rai Rathore, IPS flagged off the 10 km run. C. Sylendra Babu IPS, flagged off the 10km and wheelchair runners. C. Latha, Secretary Tamil Athletic Association, was also present.

Women’s full marathon champion Sheilah Jepkorir (centre) flanked by with Lakshmi and Senthilkumar.
| Photo Credit:
M Srinath

A total of Rs. 20,00,000 was given away as prize money this year to the winners in various categories. The 12th edition of the marathon comprised of runners who were professionals, passionate runners, teams from various corporates across Chennai, several important dignitaries from the corporate world and citizens participating for the first time. This year, the Chennai Marathon saw the participation of over 35 per cent of women runners. The marathon also had runners who were visually impaired, blade runners, and wheelchair runners.

Like the previous edition, this year, the Chennai Marathon 2024 powered by Chennai Runners focused on increasing awareness of Type 1 diabetics and raising funds for people with insulin needs.

Abhishek Soni, the winner of the men’s full marathon said, “I love running marathons. This is my sixth marathon. I came to Chennai only to run for this event. I am thrilled to win here today. I am very happy with the Chennai marathon. The facilities are good, we had a very good guide every step of the way. The volunteers were very nice and helped me. There were enough water points, and the weather was also very nice. I was motivated to run well, and winning here is a dream for me.”