New Delhi: The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is scheduled to be held on October 21 this year in a bid to avoid the winter smog and pollution in the national capital.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Gold Label Race will witness over 35,000 participants across five categories: Half Marathon (21.097km), Great Delhi Run (6km), Open 10K, Senior Citizens Run (4.3km) and Champions with Disability (2.4Km). "We are pleased that the Promoters have taken into account the feedback from Airtel, our customers and citizens at large and brought forward the race day to October 21," said Ravindra Singh Negi, Bharti Airtel Delhi-NCR CEO. "We hope this will help address some of the concerns relating to air pollution and the well-being of the participants and believe that all stakeholders need to continue collaborating and build on this positive initiative," he added.

Procam International opened the registrations for the Half Marathon and Open 10K on Friday and it would stay open till September 7.

Registrations for the Great Delhi Run, Senior Citizens' Run and the Champions with Disability Run also begun today and it would close on September 28. "This year is a special milestone for us, as Procam completes 30 years and to see our vision taking shape in this fashion is very satisfying," said Vivek Singh, Procam International Joint Managing Director. "When we introduced this distance in Delhi, we always believed that it had the potential to be one of the world's most prestigious races and importantly get Delhi running," Singh added.

Ethiopian duo of Almaz Ayana, the Olympic and World 10,000m champion, and Berhanu Legese won gold medals in the 2017 Airtel Delhi half marathon.

The 10th edition of the Delhi half marathon, which was held on November 19th last year, had got into a controversy after there were calls to cancel the event due to prevalent air pollution in the national capital.