Overview
- The Forest Department, working with Hyderabad-based GreenSequr/GreenSequer Foundation, held the forest safari marathon, which took place Sunday and drew just over 300 participants from Telangana, other Indian states and from Germany and Australia.
- Organisers offered three routes — 5 km, 10 km and 30 km — with minimum ages set at 8, 14 and 18 respectively, and provided participants with T-shirts, medals and certificates.
- Medical camps, ambulances, drinking-water points, food and supply vehicles were deployed along the course and staffers were posted roughly every kilometre to manage safety on the rocky, hilly tracks.
- Local MLA K Premsagar Rao and Kawal field director S Shantharam flagged off the event, the 30 km top finishers were Gadamalla Venkatesh, Gudikandula Sathish and Satish, and a few runners suffered minor slips that were treated on site.
- Organisers plan to plant saplings at Gandhari Vanam the day after the race to create a lasting conservation legacy and to help position Mancherial as a regional eco‑tourism destination.