Sunima, Vijay Whitathon champs
Sunima Dila and Vijay took the top honours by winning the women’s and men’s 10-kilometre races respectively at the fourth edition of Whitathon Run at People’s Plaza on Necklace Road here on Sunday.
Sunima stopped the clock at 50 minutes and 54 seconds to finish first, followed by Kitu Sheoran who timed 53:56 while Smita Chamling came up third with a time of 59:10.
On the men’s side, Vijay emerged winner in 40 minutes and 6 seconds. He was followed by Manoj Kumar
(42:50) and Devkant Tyagi
(43:19).
The women’s 5-kilometre run was won by Kamala Kunala in 29 minutes and
36 seconds. Meenal Agarwal was second in
31:39 while Srijana Gupta took the bronze medal with a timing of 36:51.
Kiran Deekonda finished first in the Men’s 5km event with an impressive timing of 20 minutes and
11 seconds. Venu Reddy followed him to the finish line in 24:06 while Viresh was third with his time of
24:31.
The Whitathon Run, initiated in 2018, is L. V. Prasad Eye Institute’s (LVPEI) annual causerelated event focusing on raising awareness and funds for early diagnosis and treatment of Retinoblastoma — a Life and Vision-threatening Eye Cancer in Children.
The funds raised through the run help the Institute provide free treatment to children from underprivileged families who have retinoblastoma. The run was flagged off by M. Rajesh Chandra, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dr Gullapalli
N. Rao — Founder and Chair, Board of Trustees, LVPEI and Dr Swathi Kaliki, Ocular Oncologist and Head — Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer at LVPEI.
Speaking after flagging off the run, Rajesh Chandra said: “Whitathon Run is for a noble cause to create awareness about
eye cancers among children. Early detection of eye cancer helps save several lives of kids besides their sight and eye.”
“We are here for a very important cause, saving the lives of children, which is possible by raising public awareness. This helps parents seek appropriate medical help as soon as they identify
abnormality in a child’s eye and that can be treated, we can save lives, and in early stage the sight and the eye too can be saved,” Dr Gullapalli N. Rao said.
Dr Swathi Kaliki, Ocular Oncologist and Head — Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer at LVPEI said: “This Whitathon Run is organised to highlight the white reflex in an infant’s eye, which is a sign of cancer called Retinoblastoma. This cancer is seen in infants below three years of age. If the parents see a white reflex in their kid’s eye, they should visit an eye hospital, because it could be an eye cancer and early detection helps to prevent deaths.”