New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS) With a mission to inspire people to focus on fitness and live a healthy lifestyle, Born2Run hosted it's first ever Born2Run half marathon at JawaharLal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.

A total of 5000 runners participated in the marathon, which had three race categories (five kilometre, 10 and 21.1)

Former chief minister Sheila Dikshit attended the event. Also present were Maan Kaur Singh (102 years old) and Gurdev Singh (80 years old), the mother-son duo. Mann Kaur hit the headlines by becoming the world's fastest centenarian at the American Masters Games in Vancouver in 2017.

"I am overwhelmed by the amazing response seen at Born2Run Half Marathon at JLN Stadium. The interest amongst people is quite evident and there is no doubt about an upsurge in marathon participation in recent times," Sheila Dikshit said.

"It would be great to see the government actively involved in the betterment of marathon events, encouragement of professional runners and their intense training to help create a greater impact this space rightfully deserves," she added.

Race Director and international marathoner Sunita Godara said "It's such a wonderful feeling to know that the very first phase of Born2Run Half Marathon received a massive acceptance from people.

"It is exhilarating to watch people being inspired to run and a very satisfactory feeling for a professional marathon runner like me. That's exactly the reason why I decided to associate with Born2Run Half marathon," she added.