Satara, September 18, 2016: PNB MetLife Satara Hill Half Marathon 2016

• Satara born renowned Olympic runner Lalita Babar flags-off the event
• Biruk Assefa Jifar and Mesirak Seme from Ethiopia were the top over-all finishers in the Male and Female categories
• 5th edition of this popular event held on September 18‚ 2016

Satara, September 18, 2016: PNB MetLife Satara Hill Half Marathon 2016, holder of GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the "Most people in a mountain run – single – mountain,  creates new benchmarks with more than 5000 participants running in the 5th edition of this popular marathon held on Sunday‚ 18th of September 2016. Biruk Assefa Jifar won the Elite men’s title winning and Mesirak Seme claimed the Elite women’s title, both winning the prize money of INR 1,50,000. Renowned athletes from countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Finland, and Germany competed in this 21 km ‘ultra’ half-marathon, considered to be one of the toughest marathons in India, set across the lush green Western Ghats. Renowned Olympic runner, Lalita Babar and Mr. Abhishek Rathi, Head - Digital Marketing & Digitization, PNB MetLife flagged off the marathon and felicitated the winners along with Mr. V. S. Jadhav, President, Marathon Association Satara. Also present at the occasion were Chh. Shivendra Raje Bhosale, M.L.A. of Satara, Jawali, Special IG Vishwas Nangre-Patil, various political leaders from Satara, dignitaries from PNB MetLife and Honorary members of Mandesh Foundation.

Mr. Abhishek Rathi, Head - Digital Marketing & Digitization, PNB MetLife said‚ “At PNB MetLife we believe that there is a direct co-relation of one’s physical health to fiscal health. Hence we have invested in building our brand properties around health and wellness under the #HealthForHappiness platform. #RunForHappiness platform to support Walkathons and Marathons augments our existing initiative #PlayForHappiness to support Badminton at the grass root level. We are proud to be associated for the second year with PNB MetLife Satara Hill Half Marathon, the holder of GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS and we hope to retain the title this year as well.”

Dr. Sandeep Kate, Race Director of the event ,said, “We are very happy that the popularity & number of runners of our main event – the Half Marathon, has grown very rapidly over a short span of just 5 years. In fact the demand for running entries from outstation runners is so high that we have had to introduce a cap on the maximum number of entries allowed. The participation of local runners has seen an exponential increase too. We are also confident that we have set a new record of close to 5000 finishers this year. Now we await the official confirmation from GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, for the announcement of a new benchmark, having broken our own record from last year.”

Details of the Marathon:
The course of the PNB MetLife Satara Hill Half Marathon is measured and ratified by the IAAF (International Amateur Athletic Federation). It is one of the few Marathon events in the country to have the distinction of being a member of the AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance races). The 21 km half-marathon is organized by Marathon Association Satara, a Non-Profit Organisation in association with PNB MetLife.

More than 5,000 participants across two participation categories – Half Marathon and the Dhamaal Run took part in the marathon. The Half Marathon further had three categories – Top Over-all Finishers (including Indian and Overseas Elite runners), Top Indian Finishers (# only for Indian finishers residing in India, irrespective of age and Indian Finishers having Age-wise Group Categories. This Dhamaal run is organized to convey the message of ‘Beti koi bojh nahi’ as a message against female feticide.

For more information please log on to www.satarahillmarathon.com

About PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited
PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited (PNB MetLife) is a joint venture between MetLife International Holdings LLC. (MIHL), Punjab National Bank Limited (PNB), Jammu & Kashmir Bank Limited (JKB), M. Pallonji and Company Private Limited and other private investors, with MIHL and PNB being the majority shareholders.

For more information, follow on twitter @PNBMetLife1, visit www.pnbmetlife.com

• The marks “PNB”,“  ”, and “MetLife” are the registered trademarks of Punjab National Bank and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, respectively. PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited is a licensed user of these marks”