To commemorate the 51st anniversary of ‘Vijay Diwas’ marking the victory of India over Pakistan in the 1971 War, a ‘Southern Star Vijay Run’ was organised in 18 prominent locations all across Indian Army’s Southern Command Area spread over seven states. The event witnessed enthusiastic participation of over 50,000 members from all sections of society, ladies and school children, all running shoulder to shoulder and matching pace with their Fauji brethren, the theme of the event being ‘Run for Soldiers, Run with Soldiers’.
In Pune Station, the run was flagged off from the pristine environs of the Pune Race Course with over 4000 enthusiastic participants turning up. The Flagging off was carried out by the Army Commander, Southern Command, Lt Gen AK Singh, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM for the three categories namely 12.5 Km (Open Category), 5 Km (Children) and 4 Km (Ladies). Addressing the mass gathering at 18 locations, the Army Commander recounted the epochal victory of India over Pakistan in the 1971 war, as also the other famous operations carried out by Southern Command, the oldest and largest Command of the Indian Army, in the annexation of Junagarh, Goa and Hyderabad to the Indian Union. He also urged the Youth to pursue & achieve the vision of ATMA NIRBHAR BHARAT.
The celebratory atmosphere of the event at Race Course was amplified with a series of cultural events conducted during the event by the troops of Southern Command and school children. This included a dazzling display of Bhangra & Lezim show, Pipe band display, Aerobics and Yoga, Zumba Dance, Marathi Dance performances by Army Public Schools.
The winners of the ‘Vijay Run’ were felicitated by the Army Commander by presenting them with cash awards of Rs 42,000/-, Rs 18,000/- and Rs 18,000/- for the three categories. The Southern Star Vijay Run is the Curtain Raiser for a series of events being planned by Southern Command to be carried out in the month leading to the Army Day Parade celebration, which is slated to be conducted for the first time ever at Bangalore on 15 Jan 23 as a tribute to the valour and sacrifices of Southern India.
The winners of the Southern Command Vijay Run were as under:-
- a) 12.5 Km Open Category.
Position Men Women 1st Vishal Bansode Sonika 2nd Chitaman Gaikwad Jyoti Chouhan 3rd Bhagirath Pawar Sapna Chaudhari (b) Children 5 Km Category.
Position Boys Girls 1st Pradip Sureshmane Vedashree Vinod 2nd Sairaj Kolpe Neha Udai Singh 3rd Ganesh Dhongade Vedika Rajendra (c) Ladies 4 Km Category.
Position Name 1st Archana Adhav 2nd Rutuja Shankar 3rd Sakshi Prakash Ghule
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