<p>Kerala ushered in the National Games season on Tuesday with ‘Run Kerala Run’ – a mass run held as a prelude to the Games at about 10,000 points in different parts of the state.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar led the event with a brief run in Thiruvananthapuram. The run was also organised in other cities and towns including Kozhikode and Kochi where movie stars added glitter to the event.<br /><br />Massive crowds thronged central areas of the capital city where the run was flagged off by Governor P Sathasivam near the State Secretariat in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and other ministers. <br /><br />Tendulkar, who is goodwill ambassador for the 35th edition of the National Games – scheduled to be in different venues across Kerala from January 31 – later addressed a gathering at the Central Stadium here.<br /><br />“Run Kerala Run is a fantastic initiative… I’m so happy to see this kind of response,” Tendulkar said. The former cricketer also urged the people of Kerala to extend similar support to the National Games. <br /><br />The organisers pitched the event as the biggest mass run in the world in terms of participation with an expected turnout of 10 million. Government employees were allowed a break from office hours to participate in the run. Students from various schools also participated in the event.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Kerala ushered in the National Games season on Tuesday with ‘Run Kerala Run’ – a mass run held as a prelude to the Games at about 10,000 points in different parts of the state.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar led the event with a brief run in Thiruvananthapuram. The run was also organised in other cities and towns including Kozhikode and Kochi where movie stars added glitter to the event.<br /><br />Massive crowds thronged central areas of the capital city where the run was flagged off by Governor P Sathasivam near the State Secretariat in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and other ministers. <br /><br />Tendulkar, who is goodwill ambassador for the 35th edition of the National Games – scheduled to be in different venues across Kerala from January 31 – later addressed a gathering at the Central Stadium here.<br /><br />“Run Kerala Run is a fantastic initiative… I’m so happy to see this kind of response,” Tendulkar said. The former cricketer also urged the people of Kerala to extend similar support to the National Games. <br /><br />The organisers pitched the event as the biggest mass run in the world in terms of participation with an expected turnout of 10 million. Government employees were allowed a break from office hours to participate in the run. Students from various schools also participated in the event.<br /><br /></p>
