LAHORE, Jan 11: The 3rd International Lahore Marathon, scheduled to be held on Sunday, is likely to set a new mark for any sporting event held in the country insofar the participation figure is concerned since the organisers are hoping for at least 30,000 runners to get registered for the grand event.

More than 50 international athletes and marathoners are also arriving to take part in the event from various countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, United Kingdom, Namibia, Russia, Ukraine, Sweden and India.

People of Lahore will also have the distinction of watching in action, perhaps the world's most unique marathoner, Hajime Nishi, who features in the Guinness Book of World Record.

This extraordinary Japanese runner styles himself as an 'Ecomarathoner.' On Sunday, January 14, when he steps into the Start Up line at the Punjab Stadium for the 3rd International Lahore Marathon, he will be running his 501st marathon.

Amazingly, Nishi will be running back-back races this week since he will also be competing in Dubai Marathon on Friday (today) and will then catch a flight and arrive in Lahore in time for the grand event.

Nishi is the founder of Ecomarathon International and has run seven marathons in each of the seven continents in only 168 days in 1997. This achievement prompted the Guinness Book of World Records to create a new record for him: “The fastest time to run marathons on each of the seven continents,” says the record. Furthermore, in the year 2000 he became the first non-North American to complete marathons in all 50 states of the US.

Meanwhile, for easy registration of interested participants, a registration camp has been set up since December 20 outside the Punjab Stadium and a portion of the camp is dedicated solely for special persons, who are warmly encouraged to take part in this event.

Apart from the registration forms and kits, detailed information about the race is readily available at the camp.

The races that will take place this year are 42km, 10km, the 5km Family Fun Run and three races of 3km each for special persons.

To facilitate all who wish to register, mini registration camps at Minar-e-Pakistan and Lahore Railways Station have also been set up. In addition, four other kiosks are working at Race Course Park , Allama Iqbal Park , Zoo and Liberty Market. A mobile van travels through the city from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily for further assistance.—APP