Kathmandu, April 18 -- The Kantipur Half Marathon kicked off on Saturday morning, drawing a record number of participants to its 14th edition.

Record-holding runner Baikuntha Manandhar, a three-time South Asian Games gold medallist and four-time Olympian, inaugurated the race in front of the Kantipur office at Tinkune.

Chairman of Kantipur Media Group Kailash Sirohiya, Chief Executive Officer Mahesh Swar, and Global IME Bank CEO Surendra Raj Regmi jointly hoisted the flag to mark the start.

This year's event has attracted around 4,000 runners, the highest participation so far. The race is being held under the slogan "Run for Nepal." The previous highest turnout was 2,560 runners in 2018.

Organised annually by Kantipur Media Group, the...