The city’s love for running has soared to a new high, Kolkata’s favourite road race showed on Sunday.
The eighth edition of Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, partnered by The Telegraph, saw records tumbling. But what set the race apart was the spontaneous participation of people.
The 10K, the first run of the day, started at 5.30am sharp. The sun was yet to come out and it was more than chilly by Kolkata standards. A Celsius reading showed 14 degrees. But more than 6,000 people behind the start line on Red Road were raring to go.
An organiser said 6,328 people had registered for the 10K run. In comparison, the first edition of the TSK 25K in 2014 had 6,588 participants across all segments. This year, there were 17,557 registrations, a new high.
Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo and Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede, who took pole positions among men and women, respectively, also smashed the existing course records and had pundits excited.
But beyond the champions, it was ordinary runners like Vinita Sharma who have made TSK what it is today.
Clad in a salwar kameez and wearing running shoes, the 53-year-old homemaker from Belur was swaying to the beats of zumba around 7am. She was preparing
for the Ananda Run (4.5km), the final event slated for 8.45am.
“My son is a regular runner. He has been running the Open 10K for the past few editions. He encouraged me to do the Ananda Run,” said Sharma, who had been practising over the past three months.
Her son’s event was the day’s first. Sharma, intially wondering how to spend three hours, changed her mind after reaching the holding area. “The atmosphere is so energetic and infectious. You don’t realise how time flies,” she said.
Shinjini Dey, who works for an MNC audit firm, was among those who made her race debut on Sunday. She works out at a gym and home regularly, but this was the first time that she participated in a 10km race.
“I was encouraged by a friend and colleague. I was amazed that I could finish the run and not walk across the finish line,” Dey said after the race.
Then there were runners who graduated from one level to the next.
Joy Mukherjee, a New Town resident who works in the defence sector, ran the 10K this year. In 2022, he did the Aananda Run (4.5km).
“I have practised hard, on the treadmill and the road, for the longer strech. I am glad the hard work paid off,” the 44-year-old said after finishing the 10K.
“Running is the best workout. It keeps you going. It is like an anti-ageing exercise,” he said.
Hugh Jones, the race director, was on point about the changing nature of the
race.
“Earlier, the challenge was to incentivise the runners to turn up at the venue, to have a decent number of registrations. Now, all categories are oversubscribed and the
challenge is to limit the number to what the course can safely accommodate,” he said.
Vivek Singh, joint managing director of Procam International, the promoters of the event that organise marathons in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, said TSK was conceived more as a campaign or a movement than a competition.
“We are so proud of where the movement has reached. It would not have been possible without the participation of people. That is the beauty of a race. It is a participative sport,” he said.
When the inaugural TSK 25K happened in 2014, there was hardly any running group in Kolkata. Now, there are over 40. Their members were all over Red Road and the Maidan on Sunday. Most of them were participating as runners and some as pacers to guide their fellow runners.
Each category of the event had its own charm on Sunday. The longer distances (10K and 25K) had huge numbers and Red Road was a riot of colours.
The Champions with Disability run was, for many, the most inspiring one. As people on wheelchairs and prosthetic legs galloped forward, the console kept playing songs of determination and grit.
The unbridled joy of the Ananda Run and the Senior Citizens’ run, with an all-pervasive festive spirit, was also unmatched.
Collin Jackson, the former hurdling champion and the international event ambassador of TSK 25K, kept cheering the runners, as did Jhulan Goswami, the cricket legend and face of TSK 25K.
The growing popularity of the TSK 25K was also evident in the number of participants who came from outside Bengal.
Simta Sharma, a software engineer and veteran runner, had come from Bangalore, along with other members of a running group based in the Karnataka capital.
She had achieved a target of making 25km under two hours. “The track is flat and conducive for runners. The energy is sensational. Kolkata is a great race venue,” said Sharma, who has participated in races in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and was gearing up for the Boston Marathon next summer.