Quamrul Islam Rubaiyat, Thakurgaon A traditional horse race competition was held at Kamatpara village under Boda upazila in Panchagarh on Monday afternoon. Thousands of people, including women and children, from Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Nilphamari districts thronged the venue of the race. The race started around 4 pm at Kalibari School in Chandanbari union under Boda upazila. The competition had 17 participants from Panchagarh, Dinajpur and Nilphamari districts. Of the participants nine were selected for final round after the primary selection. At the final competition Abdullah-Hel-Kafi of Domer village, Nilphamari, won first prize. The second prize went to Anwar Hossain of Shakoa village, Panchagarh and the third prize winner was Tulu Mohammad of Chandanbari village, Panchagarh. The first prize winner received a 14 inch black & white TV, second prize was a 10 inch black & white TV and the third prize winner was given an 8 inch black and white TV. Chairman of Chandanbari Union Parishad, Momotazul Kabir Jahangir attended the event as the chief guest and handed prizes among the winners. One of the organisers, Osman Goni told The Daily Star that they arranged this event for the first time in the area to promote an age-old rural tradition. He also said that the public response has been very inspiring and hoped that this will become an annual event. Locals of the area carried the expenditure for arranging the event, he said.