Chikmagalur, Oct 13: The two-day Coffee Day Malnad Ultra Marathon 2018 flagged off successfully from Lalbaug Estate in Chikmagalur in the early hours Saturday.

811 runners from 13 countries and 22 states from across India gathered at the start line for the flag off of the ultra marathon. There were as many as 43 international runners from UK, Poland, France, USA, Maldives, Germany, Australia, Canada, Belgium, Singapore, Colombia, Japan, and Malaysia who participated in the run with USA having the highest representation of 7 endurance runners.

The endurance run also had an incredible number of 143 female runners and also saw participation from people up to 75 years of age.

Coffee Day Malnad Ultra is split into three categories - 50 km, 80 km and 110 km.

The 80 km and 110 km run flagged off at 6:30 am while the 50 km run begun at 7:00 am. 496 participants (111 females) registered for the 50 km run, 96 participants (17 females) registered for the 80 km run and 229 participants (15 females) registered for the challenging 110 km run.

The ultra marathon course will take the runners through the hilly and enchanting terrain of the Western Ghats while offering scenic views of the coffee plantations.

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Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Maharashtra) (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said the country taught a lesson to those who were talking about changing the Constitution.

He was speaking at the unveiling of the Urdu translation of English book "Padmavibhushan Sharad Pawar - The great Enigma" by Sheshrao Chavan here.

The political situation in the country should change, Pawar said, adding, "We should think where we are heading. We have to see that the country does not fall in the wrong hands."

Four months ago (during the Lok Sabha election campaign), Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party colleagues made statements that were not in national interest, the NCP (SP) chief said, referring to BJP leader Ananthkumar Hegde's controversial remark that they needed 400-plus seats to amend the Constitution.

"It is a good thing that the people taught a lesson to those who talked about changing the Constitution," Pawar said.

He also hit back at Union minister Amit Shah who recently called him "ringleader of corrupt people".

"A week ago, Amit Shah said that Sharad Pawar is the ringleader of all the corrupt people in the country. Earlier, when he was in Gujarat, he used the law in the wrong manner. For that the Supreme Court externed him from Gujarat. The one who was externed by the Supreme Court is holding charge of the Union Home Ministry now," Pawar said.

Shah was discharged in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case in 2014.