The 14th edition of the 'Kantipur Half Marathon', which has a rich history in Nepali athletics, is being organized next Saturday. It has been organized annually since 2067 under the organization of Kantipur Media Group (KMG). The event, which started with 3 categories - half marathon, corporate run and wheelchair, was expanded to 4 categories in 2080 with the addition of 'College Run'.

Now, the Kantipur Marathon has become a must-see for Nepali runners. Winning any race is equally important for every professional athlete, but the Kantipur Half Marathon has become even more special for many athletes, whether it is in terms of the organization or the cash prize. Those who are busy with their daily work 6 days a week are used to meeting in the corporate race.

Kantipur also had various responsibilities in society, and an event was needed to address that, recalls the then General Manager of KMG, Mahesh Rana. ‘The brand called KMG was just being established, and as we moved forward, we concluded that a half marathon would be good,’ he said, recalling the moment when the Kantipur Half Marathon was organized for the first time in 2067. ‘At first, people did not understand, we had to invite people we knew to the race, so we printed only a few T-shirts, but later, many people came and we had to print T-shirts twice.’ It has become a landmark in Nepali sports and the Prime Minister himself comes to inaugurate it, and that remains the case till date.’

Even though it was the first edition of the Kantipur Half Marathon, it feels like yesterday to Rana that Vaikuntha Manandhar himself came to make it a success. ‘We initially tried to organize the Kathmandu Marathon by linking it to Kathmandu Post, but since there was another event with the same name, we moved towards the half marathon. We had also planned to organize another one in Pokhara, but later we focused on one, which has now become the biggest event in Nepal. When organizing the first edition, there were no big sponsors, but there was no loss.’

He believes that the half marathon has been very useful in connecting directly with people when there are no other events in Kantipur. ‘There is an even better response in corporates, people run in corporate runs to check their timing and get certificates. We started it thinking that it could be an event of great importance that Kantipur has done for the people of Kathmandu,’ Rana added, ‘Nepalese people from abroad have also come to run.’ In the first edition, we had a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh for the half marathon and wheelchair, and that also seems to have attracted players.'

Rana had good support from Sanat Neupane and others from KMG Corporate. Piyush Paudyal and Shishir Pachai were deployed during the organization of the Kantipur Half Marathon. Since then, KMG's CEO Mahesh Swar and Simran Shrestha have been watching this competition from the corporate side. When looking for a way to connect the youth, Swar recalls the half marathon.

‘We ourselves were not clear about what would happen, we organized the first Kantipur Half Marathon without coordinating with the association, we slept in the Tinkune office at night and woke up before 5 am to prepare for the marathon,’ said Swar, recalling the initial days, ‘We knew that we could not do it alone and when we coordinated with the association and included it in the calendar, we believed that it would reach the next level, which made the players aware of the Kantipur Half Marathon. This has been a long-awaited competition for the players, which is a great success for us.’

Swar believes that the Kantipur Half Marathon has become a big link connecting Kantipur with society. ‘The Kantipur Half Marathon is also an opportunity to understand what Kantipur is beyond journalism,’ he said, ‘In the past editions, we held press conferences and collaborated with sports journalists to take it across the country. The cooperation of the police has been good. In the recent editions, the Prime Minister started participating directly, realizing its importance. We have also made ultra runner Mira Rai, environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar, and former captain of the Nepali national cricket team Paras Khadka the chief guests. Mira is also our brand ambassador. This also shows Kantipur's passion for running.'

Every year, the Kantipur Half Marathon has been organized with a new slogan. Swar understands that it was kept in view of the situation at that time and that it was successful in sending a message to the society. Swar says that the slogan 'Run for Nepal' was given this time because the new government is moving forward with new energy. In the past, the Kantipur Half Marathon was organized with slogans like 'To spread awareness against pollution', 'Run to inspire the young', 'Let's run for a greener tomorrow'.

The running culture in Kathmandu has increased, and Swar claims that the Kantipur Half Marathon has some role in this. Swar said that even though foreigners living in Nepal are running, efforts are ongoing to make it international. ‘If the government provides some support by stopping vehicles on that route on the day of the marathon, I think there will be no problem in making the Kantipur Half Marathon an international event,’ he said.

The first edition of the Kathmandu Half Marathon held in 2067 had more than 1,000 participants. In 2068, 1,500 people ran. In 2069, the number of participants had reached more than 2,000. In the main event, the half marathon (21.1 km), 812 runners competed. In 2070, 1,365 and in 2071, 2,300 people ran. In 2072, 1,657 people participated in the Kantipur Half Marathon, in 2073, 1,500 in 2074, and 2,560 in 2075. Swar says that he hopes that more than 5,000 people will run this time.

In the first edition of the Kathmandu Half Marathon, Arjun Kumar Basnet and Kanchhi Maya Koju became the winners. In the second edition, Harikumar Rimal and Brinda Shrestha became the winners. In the women's category of the Kathmandu Half Marathon, Kanchhi Maya has won the title 5 times and Hari 4 times, creating a record. In the third edition, Kanchhi Maya and Kalyan Baniya became the winners. In 2070, Kanchhi Maya defended the title, while Anish Thapa Magar, who came from India's 'Lahure', became the winner. Recently, 'Golden Girl' Santoshi Shrestha has added her name to the list of winners.

The initial editions started from the Kantipur office in Tinkune, then from the Thapathali headquarters. From this year, the Kantipur Half Marathon will start from Tinkune. The marathon, which will start from Tinkune, where Kantipur's office is located, will pass through Tinkune, Koteshwor, Jadibuti, Lokanthali Gatthaghar, Thimi, Sallaghari, and will end at Jagate Chowk, Koteshwor, and end at Tinkune. The Corporate and Influencer Run will start from Tinkune, return from Lokanthali bridge, return to Tinkune via Koteshwor, and end at Tinkune. The Wheelchair Run, which will start from Tinkune, return from Koteshwor, and end at Tinkune. The Extreme College Run will start from Tinkune, return from Koteshwor, reach Gatthaghar Chowk, and end at Tinkune.

From this year, technology will be used to calculate the ‘accurate timing’ of those who complete the race in the half marathon, said Swar. The Kantipur Half Marathon will be 21.1 km long. The Corporate and Influencer Run will be 5 km long, the Extreme College Run will be 7 km long, and the Wheelchair Race will be 3 km long. The male and female winners of the Kantipur Half Marathon will receive 150,000 each. Similarly, those who come second to sixth will receive 75, 50, 30, 20, and 10,000 respectively. The first three places will also receive trophies and medals. The winner of the wheelchair race will receive 35,000, and the second and third place winners will receive 25,000 and 15,000 respectively. The top three in the Corporate and Influencer Run and College Run, both male and female, will receive various prizes and gift hampers. From this time on, everyone who completes the race will receive a medal. The winner of the Extreme College Run will receive a round-trip air ticket from Kathmandu to the venue for the IPL and a ticket to watch the game.

Kantipur should now seek recognition from the World Athletics Association: Sushil Narsingh Rana (Race Director)

In 2067, Mahesh Rana called me as the race director. The aim was to organize a marathon race, in the Kantipur team. I had told him that there would only be 50-60 people in it and some of them would leave midway because they could not finish the race. I suggested a 10-kilometer or half marathon race to attract a large crowd and also to support Nepali athletics. He agreed to do a half marathon when he said that it would be corporate as well.

I watched the Kantipur Half Marathon from 2067 to 2073 as the technical chief. It created a good image in the first year. The first 6 editions started from Tinkune. Later, the crowd grew uncontrollably. There was good participation in the half marathon. After the cash prizes increased, the Indian athletes coming to Lahore to play is a great success of the Kantipur Half Marathon. Moreover, this has been happening continuously. The success of any marathon is also a long-term continuation.

I saw this when I went to South Korea for the Asian Marathon Championship in 2004, a major media group there had organized the Seoul Marathon. It used to invite athletes by giving quotas to media from neighboring countries and other big countries. We could have at least brought this concept to the South Asian region, sooner or later this process could have started. Even if the association sends letters, foreign athletes will come to play and marathons can be held at this level.

Everyone says that Nepal has a traffic problem. But we now have 4 to 8 lane roads. It is not difficult to run with one lane free, coordination is necessary. It is much safer to close the road and run. Now, it is very good news to put chips towards the Kantipur Half Marathon. Now Kantipur should start getting the course recognized by AIIMS or the World Athletics Association. Athletes coming from outside look for our results to be recognized, which affects their ranking. Many races in Nepal are out of this list.