MADURAI: With the participation of girl children and their fathers, a marathon was organised in Virudhunagar on Sunday to raise awareness about the protection of girl child. Collector VP Jeyaseelan flagged off the marathon, which began from the premises of Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital.

Muthamizh Selvi, who became first woman from Tamil Nadu to scale Mount Everest, was the chief guest in the awareness programme, organised jointly by the District Administration and the Department of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment.

The Collector said the programme focused not only in education but also in identifying their talents based upon their individual abilities in sports also. As many as 200 persons participated in the marathon, which covered a distance of 10km in Virudhunagar.

Cash prizes were given to winners, who finished first, second and third in the marathon, sources said