the goan I network
PANAJI
Elijah D’Souza ran the fastest 7.5km completing the off-road route through dense forests, dirt trails and pristine grasslands dotted with thousands of tiny, colourful wild flowers on the uninhabited Socorro Plateau in 41 minutes and 43 seconds to win the student category in the Goa
Trail Run.
Ashish Thakur won the 15km open category in an equally swift 1 hour, 22 minutes and 49 seconds. In the Open 7.5km men’s category, Narendra Ghogale (41:44) came first, while in the 15km women’s category, Fatima (1:41:08) ran a fantastic race to stand first. In the women’s 7.5km category, Sheryl Vas (49:33) outpaced girls half her age to come first.
The venue of the Goa Trail Run, the State’s first-of-its-kind competition in the wilderness, was not deep in the State’s interiors. Rather, it was on the Socorro Plateau in Porvorim, an unspoiled wonderland in the very middle of Goa’s fastest-growing urban agglomeration. Runners were in the midst of nature at its finest, listening to calls of peacocks and cries of lapwings as they raced to
the finish.
The competition attracted a very large number of women and families. Nearly half the runners were women, which is very unique for a running event. While most participants ran, a number of families walked the entire route, amid thousands of
wild flowers.
Apart from water, participants were offered fruit, muesli and cookies after the run. Tea and samosas were also available to the competitors and their supporters. Panch members of Socorro Panchayat, Rajendra Pauskar and Sandeep Pednekar, gave away the prizes. Winners were awarded medals and gifts, and crowned with flowery ‘copels’ in true Goan
tradition.
