World 10K route unveiled

All arrangements in place, say organisers

 The organisers of the TCS World 10K unveiled an unchanged route on Wednesday for the showpiece event as preparations continued for the city’s date with its biggest running fiesta.

The technical aspects of the race were released at a press conference, with Procam International, the organisers, expressing delight over the massive participation for the event, where 25,000 runners are expected to hit the road on Sunday.

“While the route for the World 10K remains the same, there are some slight of changes for the Open 10K segment,” Race Director Hugh Jones told a press conference.

The World 10K, featuring elite runners, will, as usual, start from inside the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, before traversing through M G Road, Cubbon Road, Minsk Square, Vidhana Soudha and Cubbon Park before culminating inside the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

The Open 10K will be the first of the seven runs to be flagged off and like last year, it will have an early start at 6.00 am while the last of the races, the Majja Run, will begin at 9.10 am.

The World 10K runners, who will take off at 7.25 am, faced problems last year with Open 10K runners -- many of them casual runners -- still on the road, interfering with the main race.

“There is an 85-minute gap between the start times of the two races and it should help in easing the problem,” hoped Jones. “We request the late finishers in the Open 10K to move aside for the elite runners and they generally respond well. The finish line for the two races are different, with the Open 10K ending outside the stadium, so that also should help,” he said.

Meanwhile, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), M A Saleem, said traffic restrictions will be in place on the race day with the race footprint covering the heart of the city.
Dr Vivek Jawali of Fortis Hospitals, the medical partners, said a team of well-trained professionals will be at hand along with ambulances to deal with any emergencies but hoped none of it would be required on the race day.