Schoolchildren and sportspersons take to the streets on Monday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Sept. 3: Five thousand joggers — including schoolchildren and sportspersons — put on their running shoes to mark Arjuna awardee Bhogeswar Barua’s birthday here today, cheered on by chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

The 24th Abhiruchi Sports Day, which was observed today at 104 places across the state, began with mass jogging from the city’s Chandmari flyover all the way to R.G. Baruah Sports Complex.

Flagging off the run, Gogoi called for special attention to school-level sports and lauded the organisers for acknowledging Barua’s contribution.

The star of the show, Bhogeswar Barua, attended the main function as a special guest, along with Arjuna awardee Monalisa Baruah Mehta and her husband Kamlesh Mehta, also a former national table tennis champion.

Thanking the organisers, Bhogeswar Barua said it should be the effort of every citizen to help produce more Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardees from the state.

Appreciating the state government for hosting the National Games successfully, Mehta said Assam had the capability of hosting events like the Commonwealth Youth Championship using the world class infrastructure it had developed.

Disneyland English School was named the best team in jogging, followed by Bhaskar Vidyapith. LOG Hindi High School came third, trailed by Pub Guwahati High School and T.C. Girls’ HS School.

The run was followed by group dances and physical training exercise contests at the Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phookan Indoor Stadium. Disneyland English School emerged winners in group dance, while St Mary’s Girls’ School and Maharishi Vidyamandir, Rajgarh, finished first and second runners-up respectively. Maharishi Vidyaman-dir, Rajgarh, topped the exercise event followed by the Maharishi Vidyamandir, Lalmati, and T.C. Girls’ HS School troupes.

In the evening, 26 sportspersons, four organisers and six heads of educational institutions were felicitated. The annual Abhiruchi Day awards were also conferred.