Over 500 people take part in AZF fun run

By Joseph Varghese/Staff ReporterOver 500 people took part in the ‘Khalifa Stadium Run Around’ fun run organised by Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) at the Khalifa International Stadium yesterday. The 5km fun run course included the track and other parts of Khalifa Stadium. This was one of the events organised by AZF to promote healthy living as well as to encourage sports activities. It is also a prelude to the Aspire Aquathon Series that will take place on the first week of November.Speaking to Gulf Times, Hussein al-Qahtani, head of public relations and media at AZF said that the participation in the fun run was very encouraging.  “We have seen a growing interest in the community. This is one of the many initiatives of QZF to promote sports culture as well as healthy living culture.” Qahtani added that the upcoming Aspire Aquathon Series will be even more exciting and fun-filled.  He said “The Aquathon Series consists of a 500m swim and 5km run. It is open to all sections of the people and there will be special events for children. The event will have a shorter distance for juniors.”One of the participants in the fun run, Ghanem al-Sulaiti, a Qatari national who is working as a civil engineer for Doha Metro said that it was very interesting as well as important to take part in such events. “I am very much interested in such sport activities. I just completed my engineering programme from a US university. I had participated in many such events in the US. I hope that more and more countrymen will take part in such events. This is also training session for me  as I am planning to take part in the Aquathon Series that will take place next month.” The fun run, that started around 7pm, took around 30 minutes for the participants to complete. They started on the running track of Khalifa International Stadium and ran through various parts of the stadium and finally returned to the running track inside the stadium.  It was also a great opportunity for them to experience various parts of the iconic stadium.