Internet Desk: Kolkata is warming up to distance running as with 7 days left for closing of registration the graph has spiked by 20 per cent for 25 and 10 km run in the TSK 25K promoted by Procam.
“We are very happy with the response from the people. We already have 25 per cent higher registration for our two featured races which are of 26 kms and 10 kms. This is a very good sign. With dada (Sourav Ganguly) coming in as the face of the event the response has been phenomenal,” said Dilip Jayaram, CEO, Procam International Pvt Ltd.
The TSK 25k has also lined up a spectacle of events as a build up to the race. They will hold an Expo at Khudiram Anusilan Kendra that will see Sourav Ganguly interacting with the racers. This apart tennis legend Boris Becker will be in town as part of Puma Legend and will be present when Puma signature T-shirts will be given out to the registered racers.
“This is not all. We have received words of encouragement from the honourable chief minister Mamata Banerjee. This will give us the impetus to try harder. We are also aligning with Calcutta Sports Journalists Club to do a series of programmes,” he added.
The event gets underway on December 18 in which this 25 kilometer stretch of heritage Kolkata, laden with history and cultural oppulence, will wait to bear testimony to the biggest carnival celebrating health, fitness and career rolled into one.
With an aim to encourage everyone to participate and indulge in an active sporting lifestyle, the event includes five categories the 25K (Elite and Amateurs), Open 10K, Ananda Run (6 km), Senior Citizen’s Run (4 km), and Champions with Disability (4 km). The feature races 25K and the Open 10K Run are compulsorily timed race categories. The total prize money of Rs. 22,80,000. This premiere 25K has galvanized the crème de la crème of the cultural capital of the country including the art community, Tollywood sports icons, government authorities and sports federations among others.
India’s top marathoners will run this course that is being curated by Hugh Jones, the first British to win the British Marathon. He is also the secreatary general of Association for International Marathoners and hence the certificates of time will be recognised world over.
Procam runs the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, which is Asia’s highest prize money event including a full and half marathon, and also the TCS Premiere World 10k in Bengaluru. It also runs the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon- World Prestigious Half Marathon.