While some others ran to keep their friends, colleagues company in good books while a section ran to shed a few kilos! But it was a race where none were losers. The Sunfeast 10k run in Bangalore saw participation from different sections of the society, on Sunday.
From noted companies like GE, LG, Philps and ITC to Army personnel and from the Karnataka State Police personnel to common men and women, the marathon was well attended in numbers marking a success for the City.
As the weather gods appeared to be supportive, the participants' enthusiasm seemed to be doubled and the 'majja' run drew more crowd, ensuring the stadium was empty within few minutes after the last run commenced.
For fun, funds, awareness
Representing their organisation, most ran to raise the funds and awareness for their work. Students from various schools and institutes, several corporate sectors, voluntary groups, Non Government Organisations, Residents' Associations fielded strong teams irrespective of age and sex.
Social organisations representing autism, mentally challenged, literacy programmes, free education and old age homes caught the eye of the common man and those from the elite corporates. Placards carrying messages and advertisements were seen all across the run.
“I ran to lose weight,” said a 10th standard student Vishnu. He was one of the thousands who participated in the event. While they were participating for fun, others from the corporate world ran to create awareness and raise funds for social causes. “We are running for the cause of education for all,’” said employees of General Electric based in Bangalore. GE had nearly 23 of their personnel in the fray. Jayanth yet another activist who is associated with the Association for the Mentally Challenged spoke on the run being a great event for raising funds. “We are running for physically challenged,” said Priyanka and Nishu from Northern Trust. The trust held the pole position with nearly 300 of their volunteers participating in the event. Families had a field day with spouses and kids running in tandem and egging each other to the finishing line.
Can you see me
But perhaps the most entertaining part of the race saw people in costumes running the race.
People running for the cause of green, and men and women in condom shaped dress to propagate safe sex stole the show, but more attention was drawn by some of the messages against terror. Nearly 2,000 senior citizens participated in the walk, a number double that of the previous year. Most of them having come from various laughter clubs in the City were supported by Harmony for Silvers Foundation to showcase their potential.
S M Mohan from Jayanagar who was participating for the second time said that he was thrilled to see so many people compared to the previous year. Ganesh who flagged off the event, said, "It is good to see the senior citizens happy."
Of the total 23,150 runners, 8000 people participated in Open10 K, of which 6,587 were male and 1,413 female. In the Majja Run of the 13,000 people, 9,054 were men and 3,946 were women. Over 45,000 litres of water, six medical stations, six ambulances and 150 doctors were kept ready to meet the needs of the runners.
Over a hundred physically challenged persons participated in the event and wheeled the full 4.4 km distance to prove that they are in no way less than others. Twenty-nine persons from Mobility India, an organisation for the physically challenged wheeled their way despite all the odds. "Most of them are women here, we are proud to say all of them have completed the race," said Satyvathi Shamsuddin, vice president of the organisation.
Witty slogans
Bright colours and witty slogans ran across the t-shirts that participants wore. While some had the name of the organisation, others had awareness slogans.
“A boy or a girl, big or small, free and fair education for all,” said the T-shirt worn by the CRY foundation volunteers. Volunteers of another NGO that works for conserving historic places and areas, Samuha had their T-shirt splattered with a slogan that said, “History is being made”.
The India Literacy Programme volunteers conveyed the message in a rather strong statement on a red background that said, “I helped educate a child today.” Some green groups wore green t-shirts with slogans that said, “You must be the Change you want.”
Parikrama, yet another NGO, had their volunteers sport the slogan, “No Division at the Finishing Line” conveying the message of peace and equality. The race saw a huge turn out that overshadowed any doubts for the cause of the race, as one slogan by the Bangalore Hospice Trust along said, “I ran for a cause bigger than the race.”
Mediapersons injured
Six mediapersons who had been to cover the event were injured when when the door of a truck carrying them to photograph the participants got stuck. Srikanta Sharma of Deccan Herald, Venkatesh Perumal, cameraman of a private TV channel sustained serious injuries and was admitted to a private hospital, Selva Prakash and Syed Asif, photographers of two other leading dailies sustained minor injuries.
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