A grand boulevard in the heart of the national capital teemed with humanity Tuesday as thousands of people - men, women and children, common folks and dignitaries - turned out for a marathon to mark the World Military Games (WMG) that India hosts later this year.
Some ran, some jogged, some walked, and many even gambolled on the lush green lawns along the Rajpath esplanade that links the Rashtrapati Bhavan presidential palace with the India Gate war memorial - and in the end, everyone had a jolly good time.
Adding to the razzmatazz was a breathtaking display by an Indian Air Force (IAF) skydiving team -- Bravo, the dancing bison mascot of the WMG slithering down a rope from a helicopter and performances by Bollywood stars Manoj Bajpai and Peenaz Masani.
There were, in fact, five different marathons ranging from 1.5 km to 10 km to cater to the eclectic multitude comprising diplomats and military attaches, schoolchildren, bureaucrats and members of the armed forces that turned up for the event.
'This is the true celebration of sport,' declared Defence Minister A.K. Antony as he flagged off the longest one that was largely participated in by professional runners and personnel of the three wings of the armed forces.
Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju, army chief Gen. J.J. Singh, navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and air chief Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi flagged off the runs over the other distances.
'If only the Indian cricket team had displayed similar spirit, we might still have been in the World Cup instead of returning home in disgrace,' said a bitter Harkirat Singh, a serving Indian Army junior commissioned officer, who ran over the longest distance.
There were many more who felt similarly but everyone agreed that the marathon would spur the Indian participants at the WMG to bring honour for the country. This not too tall a task, considering the Indian contingent will feature 15 medal winners at last year's Doha Asian Games.
Six thousand athletes from 100 countries - the largest in any sporting event outside the Olympics - will participate in the fourth edition of the WMG at Hyderabad and Mumbai Oct 14-21, the biggest such extravaganza India has ever hosted.
Fifteen disciplines will feature at the WMG, being held under the banner of 'Friendship Through Sports'. These include traditional Olympics' events like athletics, swimming, shooting, hockey and sailing, as also a military-specific parachuting competition.
Held every four years under the aegis of the Brussels based International Military Sports Council, known by its French acronym CISM, the first edition was conducted in Rome in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. Subsequent events were held at Zagreb (Croatia) in 1999 and at Catania (Italy) in 2003.
The bulk of the events - athletics, swimming, boxing, hockey, volleyball, handball, kabaddi, football, wrestling, volleyball, shooting and judo will be staged at the Hyderabad facilities created for the 2003 Afro-Asian Games.
The parachuting event will be conducted at the Indian Air Force station in adjacent Dindugal, while the sailing event will be staged at Mumbai, where the Indian Navy conducted the 40th World Military Sailing Championship last October.
A variety of trophies will be on offer, including the CISM Fair Play Trophy, and the CISM Solidarity Trophy that is awarded to the nation that has demonstrated 'exceptional solidarity' with one or more CISM member nations.
India hosted the inaugural 1951 Asian Games and the eighth edition in 1982. Apart from the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the country also hopes to host the 2014 Asian Games and ultimately the Olympics in 2016 or 2020.
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