LAHORE, Jan 28: The stage is set to hold the second Lahore Marathon on Sunday. Oganizers said more than 15,000 runners confirmed their participation till Saturday evening to queue up at the Punjab Stadium, the starting point of the two main races.

A spokesman of the organizers claimed the total entry of all the events (42.195km, 10km and 5km) is more than 15,000 but avoided to give the exact figure. As last year 17,000 runners had taken part, the organizers were expecting 26,000 entries this year.

The spokesman said that 47 elite foreign athletes, including men and women, would run in the main marathon and 10km events. Eight men and three elite women runners from Pakistan also got themselves registered for the two races.

He said that 13 Indians also arrived here on Saturday to be part of the event.

The 5km Fun Race is main attraction for amateur men, women and families, mainly locals.

The organizers will have to be careful in holding the 5km race which flopped last year because a good number of runners had started the race much before the official go. Later, the organizers decided not to announce the results.

The Punjab Stadium and the entire route have been decorated with banners. Patchwork of the roads in and around the stadium has also been completed.

The spokesman said that 12 water spots and nine first-aid booth had been set up on the 42km route to facilitate runners.

As traffic on the race routes would remain suspended from 9am to 3pm, traffic police had marked alternate routes for vehicles.

After the opening ceremony, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi will inaugurate the 42km race at 10am, followed by 10km’s even 10 minutes later.

The marathon will start from Punjab Stadium and after passing through Ferozepur Road- Chauburji-Azadi Chowk, Haider Sain Stop (Minar-i-Pakistan) will return to the starting point via The Mall, Canal Road-F.C College-Kalma Chowk-Punjab Stadium.

Meanwhile, full dress rehearsal of the race was held on Saturday. Law Minister Basharat Raja, IGP Ziaul Hasan, DIG Khalid Farooq, SSP Aamir Zulfiqar review the arrangements.