While some youngsters participated in the 10K run, others sat along the footpath counting and appreciating luxury brands and fancy shoes.
Following the “footsteps” of the people running in the marathon, the group was found looking with intense concentration at the footwear of the participants. With note pads in their hands and seven pairs of eyes, the group of individuals were seen looking at the “swoosh” mark of a popular brand of shoes.
A spokesperson of a popular shoe brand said that the exercise was an internal research programme on the sales of their shoes. “The exercise is a research mechanism which is needed for our shoe count,” he said.
Industry sources add that the exercise of spotting shoes worn in these marathons is one which is quite common among footwear industry players to gauge their market in any part of the world.
Celebrities and film stars also were spotted in the crowd running for a cause at the Marathon. Bollywood film stars like Gul Panag and Rahul Bose along with sandalwood personalities like Pooja Gandhi and Ganesh were found wearing their sun glasses and track suites for the run.
Meanwhile, at the other end, three young boys were found contemplating on which way to progress to pickup rag. Dressed in their daily wear, the young boys carried around with them plastic gunny bags to clean the running area of any plastic bottles or garbage that the runners might have thrown on their route to glory.
Various causes
While corporates “contributed” their way into the run, ordinary citizens involved in various organisations also ran for causes that ranged from “education for all” to “unity among the human race”. Some sported their corporate logos and carried their flags, others wore their bright coloured T-shirts creating awareness on Alzheimers’ disease and holding placards on various issues.
Used as a platform for raising nearly Rs 1.31 crore for as many as 81 NGOs in its second edition in 2009, the run seems to have given the City of Bangalore, a novel way to spend at least one Sunday morning caring for others, or perhaps even for themselves.
