Bengaluru's first community run draws 1,200 people

Indiranagar residents find the event convenient, less crowded

Bengaluru City 10K, the first community run, was conducted in Indiranagar on Sunday with over 1,200 participants.

 The event, organised by EON Sports Management and Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation with DH as the media partner, promoted fitness and healthy lifestyle.

The timed 10K and 5K community runs were flagged off at 6.30 am from the Indiranagar Club by former cricketer Roger Binny and Inspector General of Police (KSRTC) B N S Reddy. Participants cheered each other on as they set off on the route along 100 Feet Road, Old Airport Road, Suranjan Das Road, Jeevan Bima Nagar Road and then back to 100 Feet Road, finishing the circuit. More than 250 people from the Army Supply Corps (ASC) Centre and College also took part in the event. Several police officers such as Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R Hithendra were also in attendance.

Anand Pandit, a financial accountant, was one of the runners who completed the 5K. “It’s great to see so many people out here and being health conscious,” he said.

The objective of having a community or constituency run was to make it easier for senior citizens, children and women to participate. Ambika Srikanth, who has run marathons before, said, “Compared to other large-scale runs in the city, this was better because it was not crowded. It is convenient too because it is close-by.”

Girls from a home, who are being trained in athletics by the Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation as part of the ‘I am She’ project, also took part and one of them won in the 5K run.

S N S Murthy, former DG&IGP, distributed prizes for the top 5 in the men’s and women’s categories of 10K and 5K.

“Bengaluru is the run destination with several major marathons happening every year. But we want to focus on smaller, community runs with one such event every two months in a different constituency,” said Mayur Satishchandra, managing partner of EON Sports Management.

With each run, they intend to take up a local issue and raise awareness through it.

“It may be waste management or cleanliness — something which is relevant to people of the locality,” said Elvis Joseph, who runs the Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation.