Despite official and popular usage of the name Sohra within Meghalaya, it appears as though Cherrapunjee is still the more favoured name among outsiders.
Saturday will see the 2nd Sohra International Half Marathon take place but co-organisers the Meghalaya State Olympic Association (MSOA) have been a little baffled by how many inquiries it has received from runners from Assam wondering where Sohra is. Some runners from farther afield were not too sure about Meghalaya’s location, either.
“Around 60 per cent of the callers from outside the state were asking where Sohra is located and where is Meghalaya…I was shocked initially but I realised that there are so many people who still don’t know where Sohra is,” MSOA working president John F Kharshiing said at a pre-event press conference here today. “I won’t blame them because if anyone asks me about a tourist destination in Kerala (for example) I won’t have any idea. What’s shocking was that a few calls also came from Assam asking where exactly Sohra is.”
This event could thus help establish the brand of Sohra in its own right rather than keep alive the imposed Cherrapunjee.
Meanwhile the MSOA, which is organising the event in collaboration with the Meghalaya Athletics Association and state government, are thrilled by the response this year, with over 3,000 runners signing up for the various events, up from the 700 that took part last year.
Officials from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) are overseeing the race to ensure that it is up to standard and AFI chief technical officer G Krishnan also briefed the media today.
Over 300 runners are taking part in the half marathon, with 545 having signed up for the 10km race and the vast majority, over 2,000, for the 5km race. Around 1,300 children from 14 schools in the Sohra area will be running and the organisers had even received many calls after the deadline had passed.
Runners from outside Sohra will be bussed in from Shillong as private vehicles are largely banned from the route. The entire road from Laitsohphliah to Mawsmai in Sohra will be closed to traffic from 6am to 9am.
A cloak room will be provided for athletes to store their belongings while they run and runners have been urged to keep the race litter-free. Ambulances and medical stations will be stationed along the route, as per AFI norms.
Concerning the expenses, the MSOA estimates that the costs of hosting the event will be around Rs 1 crore, up from Rs 69 lakh last year, with logistics, refreshments, transport and volunteers all being arranged by the organisers. Of the latter, 650 volunteers have been enlisted, all residents from the villages in the area, Kharshiing added.
