With the morning chill just breaking away, the boys and girls seemed eager to test their fitness levels. There were men and women of all age groups.
The excitement on the stage was building up as a host of guests among them, cine actress Hema, Jayaprakash Reddy, MLC K.S Lakshmana Rao, Chairman of VGTMUDA Vanukuri Sreenivasa Reddy, District Sports Development Officer K. Venkateswara Rao and Chairman of NRI Group Alapati Rajendra Prasad urged the participants to walk with jest and energy. They were dressed in sporting tracks firing up enthusiasm among the participants.
“Walk for health, walk to preserve a united state,” urged former MLC Rayapati Srinivas.
Superintendent of Police, Guntur Urban, Gopinath Jatty, was also present in sporting tracks.
Experts’ tips
The music was on and the fitness trainers got on the stage to give tips to participants before embarking on the gruelling walk. Cultural programmes, dance programmes revved up the ambience as the crowd was egged on by the performers.
After inaugurating the meet, the guests released doves and balloons. The walkers immediately were off the mark in a jiffy and raced off, some of them even jogged for a few minutes before settling for a brisk walk. The walkathon wound through the Ring Road, passed through Koretipadu, Shankar Vilas, Hindu College junction, Collectorate, Kankaragunta RoB, Chebrolu Factory, Gujjangundla before closing at the school gate.
Winners
In the Under-15 category girls category, Sk, Munnesa won followed by P. Lingamma and Ch. Sowmya. In the U-25 category, Vijaya Lakshmi, I. Aparna and K. Sushmita bagged the honours. In the U-45 category, Noorjahan, Maheswari and L. Lakshmi won the prizes and in the U-60 category, Sk. Saidabee won. In the boys category, M. Kishore, Y. Venkateswara Rao and K. Mahesh won in U-15 years category. Naveen Kumar, A. Chakravarty and B. Mahesh Babu won in U-25 category. Srinivasa Rao, Srikanth and Mallikarjun won in U-15 category. Joseph, Yedukondalu and Balakondaiah won in U-65 category.
The winners were given away cash awards and mementoes.