Srinagar, May 11: The old city (Shahre-khaas) of Srinagar came alive on Wednesday morning with hundreds of athletes of 6 to 80 years of age participating in the JK Bank run for Shahre-khaas cross-country event organised by J&K Sports Development Association (JKSDA) from TRC ground to Islamia College gate Hawal, here.
 The run was flagged off by JK Bank, President and sports board chairman, Tafazul Hussain and in it around 700 athletes hailing from all over valley participated in two categories, of Under-17 and open. The run which was first of its kind to start in civil line and culminate at Shahre-khaas passing via all the important and historical importance routes of Shahre-khaas, Khayam Chowk, Baba Demb, Khanyar, Khawaja Bazaar, Nowhatta and Gojwara chowk saw close competition between the athletes. In the event some of valley’s top athletes, teams including JK Bank football team and JK police athletic team.
 The main competition was in open category in which top athletes of the Valley were participating while in Under-17 category no body knew what is in store as most of the athletes were school students.
 From the start the bunch of athletes which included Reyaz Ahmad of JK Police, Tanveer Hussain of Fort City Club, Umer Nabi of Shalimar, Khursheed Ahmad of Fort City Club and Ajaz of Amar Singh College took early lead and throughout the race course tussle for top spot was between them. At Khawaja Bazaar Reyaz and Tanveer sprinted away from rest of the bunch and there from it was neck to neck to battle between the duo. Till finsish line no one was able to judge who will cross finish line first. At the end it was Reyaz who had extra but of energy in him which enabled him to finish first ahead of Tanveer with just fraction of second lead. With this win Reyaz Ahmad emerged as the first winner of the JK Bank run for Shahre-khaas in open category. Umer finished third while Khursheed finished fourth. Ajaz finished fifth.
 In Under-17 category, Tasaduq finished first while Abid Hussain Mir finished second. Sheikh Sadiq Sajad finished third while Ahsan Majeed finished fourth. Saarib Rafique Bhat finished fifth.
 Through out the race course concerned police stations had deployed their police personals for helping organisers to conduct the event smoothly and Red Cross society of Kashmir had also deputed its ambulance vehicle and medical staff for the run. The only thing that lacked was traffic police clearance vehicle and officials.
 Later the prize distribution ceremony was held at Islamia College ground in which positions holders and noted sports personalities of State were honoured. On the occasion oldest and youngest athlete of the competition were also honoured. Tafazul Hussain was the chief guest on the occasion and he gave away prize to winners.
 Speaking on the occasion he said, “It is great to see so many athletes waking up early in the morning and competing in this unique kind of a run. I am really happy to see athletes of all age groups competing in it and it shows how much awareness is among Valleyites towards sports.”
 “JK Bank is always ready to help for the development of the sports and we have been doing this from last many years. I congratulate winners and those who couldn’t get positions should prepare themselves for the future events” he said.
 Giving details about the event, JKSDA Joint Secretary, Sajid Dar said, “We are delighted with such a huge response of the players and such a close competition. It has encouraged us to plan for many other bigger events. We are thankful to JK Bank management for giving us support when we were running out of ideas how to organise this mega event.”
 Sajid said that it was first time that long distance run of this type was held in Old City of Srinagar and uniqueness of race route made it extra special as it passed almost through every important Old City area.
 “It is known fact that there is lot of talent among Old City youth in sports activities and they have been bringing laurels for State at various National and International events. So our aim was to dedicate this run to Old City talent, Heritage and Culture which is unique in itself” he said.
 He said that JKSDA stands for overall development of sports and welfare of players belonging to any sports discipline.
 “It is just beginning as we will be conducting several sports events in future. The next in line will be cycling event for which we will announce date shortly” he said.
 Among others present were, JK Bank cluster head and sports board secretary, Muhammad Amin Khan, JK Bank chief editor Sajad Bazaz, sports officer JK Police Jameel Ahmad and many others.
 The run was organised by JKSDA in collaboration with Sports Fraternity Dalgate and was sponsored by JK Bank.

‘No support from traffic police’
The J&K Sports Development Association (JKSDA) has accused the city Traffic Police of not supporting and helping organisers to conduct run for old city (Shahre-khaas) from TRC gate to Islamia College gate Hawal held on Wednesday.
“We had sent written application for the support and clearance vehicle to City traffic police well in advance. They even responded by confirming from us the route and date couple of days ago. They assured us that they will be present but today no one from traffic police department turned up” said JKSDA organising secretary, Rouf Ahmad.
“We called city traffic police, SP in morning but he said that he has no information about the event. This showed the lackadaisical attitude of traffic police. They risked the well being of around 700 athletes’ which included minors. Somehow with the help of Allah the event passed without any major incident” he added.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 12 May 2011 00:00:00 IST