New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) It is usually the city folk who are seen taking part in the marathons in Indian metros. But Sunday’s Airtel Delhi half-marathon will see heads of various villages surrounding the national capital running the stretch.
The village heads (sarpanchs) for the first time will take part in the 21.09 km marathon, which is expected to draw a whole lot of celebrities and other people from all walks of life.

All pepped up for the run, village head of Tehna in Rewari district of Haryana Ranbir Singh said he is taking part in the run to bridge the divide between the metros and the villages.

“By taking part in the marathon, I want to show everyone that there is nothing that city dwellers can do and we villagers can’t. We are all equal and capable of doing anything, be it taking part in a marathon or anything else,” 36-year-old Singh told IANS.

Arjan Kalan, another village head who hails from Kurukshetra in Haryana, said his aim for taking part in the marathon was that he wanted to get a feel of how things work in the city and emulate some of those in his village.

“The marathon is a great opportunity to learn more about the way cities function. It will probably give us ideas about bringing about changes in our villages and pave the way for development,” Kalan, who has been a village head for five years, told IANS.

More than 1,000 people are expected to participate in the marathon which has been brought together by Bharti foundation, one of the 200 charities registered in the run.