Elite athletes will be in bio-secure zone, amateurs can run using ADHM app: Vivek Singh
Nov 24, 2020
By Nitin Srivastava
New Delhi [India], November 24 : The 16th edition of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) is set to take place on Sunday and Vivek Singh Joint MD, Procam International, said that elite athletes will be staying in a bio-secure zone, adding that amateurs can participate using the app.
"These are challenging times. We are very grateful to the government of India, the Sports Ministry, and the government of Delhi. This is not an ordinary event, it is a prestigious half marathon race. World's best used to come to Delhi and we felt that if there is a way that it can happen, maintaining all the protocol, then it should happen," Singh told ANI.
He added, "Athletes will be tested twice while they're in Delhi and then only allowed to run on Sunday, elite athletes will be in a bio-secure zone. They are the ones who are running on Sunday, the rest can participate through the App which we have developed for the first time and they can register there and run anywhere they choose, starting tomorrow till Sunday evening."
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon will follow the highest level of safety standards, with bio-secure zones to ensure a COVID-free race for the elite runners. While the elite runners will be at the start line at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, on November 29, amateurs from across the globe will join them via the exclusive Airtel Delhi Half Marathon Mobile App.
Singh is hopeful that athletes will have a good experience. "The beauty of this event is that it brings everybody together at a common cause. This year, we knew we have this challenge and we had to go through this challenge... We are hopeful that athletes will have a good experience... It is a very big statement from India to the world," he said.
"Pollution is something I find personally better this time and we have measures regarding pollution very clearly laid on which we are following for the last four years. Pollution has been something which we have learnt to deal with and create a pollution-free channel for Elite athletes. We must also remember that elite athletes were in lockdown and were looking for opportunities of a good platform to run," he said.
"We must also remember that the Olympics is also not very far away and athletes have that in mind so getting opportunities to run safely and with best are very rare and should be grabbed," Singh added.
