Yellapur: The 56th State-level Cross Country Championship will be held on December 27 at the taluk stadium located at Kalamma Nagar here.

Informing this to media persons here on Friday, Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar said, around 800 sportspersons from various districts are expected to take part in the championship which is jointly being organised by the State and district Athletics Associations. 600 sportspersons have already registered their names, he added. 

He said, the sportspersons who would win in this State-level Cross Country Championship, would take part in the national-level championship to be held on January 15 and 16 in Kohima, Nagaland. Medal, certificate and cash prize would be given to the winners, he said.

He said, sportspersons below 20 and 18 years old including girls and boys below 16 would take part in the State-level championship. To encourage budding local sportspersons, 1.5 km cross country race would be organised for boys and girls below 14, he informed.

Uttara Kannada District Athletics Association President Sadanand Naik, Secretary K R Nayak, Town Panchayat President Sunanda Das, vice-president Shamili Patanakar, tahsildar Srikrishna Kamkar and others were present.