Four and a half months have passed, yet Mirona Akhter, the first ever victorious woman of the Big Bangla Run is awaiting her prize money of $1,000 from the UK-based organiser Big Bangla.
The other participants have all received their allocated prizes.
Mirona finished the 10-kilometre run in 36 minutes and 55 seconds to ensure first place, while Danish runner Ana Anderson and Enzar Taylor of the United States ended the race in second and third place respectively.
In the men’s 10-kilometre run, Bangladesh Army’s Jamrul Islam clocked 28 minutes and 24 seconds to clinch victory. Rafiqul Islam and Hanifur Rahman, also representing Bangladesh Army, finished second and third.
Mirona and Jamrul both received cheques for $1,000 from the organiser for the meet.
Jamrul and his fellow Army runners cashed their cheques after two months, while Ana and Enzar also got their money on time.
Mirona remained the only exception, despite repeated attempts to cash the cheque.
‘I deposited the cheque in the bank four times, but they returned it and informed me that the account did not have sufficient balance,’ said Mirona, who is also a national football player.
‘They [Big Bangla] even told me to contact their zonal office in Khulna. I went there but nothing had changed as I was also refused there,’ she said.
‘I learnt that the other winners have already received their money from the account,’ Mirona told reporters.
Salekin Hasan, marketing director of Big Bangla, admitted that they were unable to give the prize money to Mirona due to some internal problems.
‘Due to some technical and internal problems we did could give the prize money to Mirona, but we have promised her to pay the amount on July 25,’ said Salekin.
About 300 volunteers took part in the run.
The chairman of the Big Bangla Run, Abidur Rahman, promised that the next edition of the race will take place in February next year.
-With New Age input
