A young man from Contai who works at a stationery store spotted a newspaper advertisement inviting people to run and decided to give it a go.
A 32-year-old homemaker from Alipore who had taken up running after giving birth to her son will test her mettle.
They will be at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, partnered by The Telegraph, on Sunday. Nearly 16,000 people will run through the streets of central and south Kolkata in various categories.
Bibhuti Das, 24, who works at a newspaper-cum-stationery store, had seen the newspaper ad last week. On Saturday, Das caught an early morning bus from Contai in East Midnapore and got down at the Babughat bus stand.
Das then asked people at the stop for directions before walking to Khudiram Anushilan Kendra to collect his bib and running number.
Das could not continue studying after appearing for his Class XII examinations as he had to start working in order to support his mother and two sisters but every day, he said, he makes it a point to read “at least one English and one Bengali newspaper”.
He runs regularly in his hometown because “it is the cheapest way to keep fit”.
“I cannot afford a gym membership or expensive sports items so I took to running several years back. I have never participated in an organised road race. The number of people here was a bit overwhelming,” said Das, who will run 10km on Sunday.
A few minutes after Das had reached the bib collection point, came Alipore resident Vatsala Agarwal, 32.
Agarwal, a homemaker, who gave birth to her son a year ago, said she would participate in the Ananda Run (5km).
“I took to running after the birth of my son. I wanted to try it as a way to stay fit but now I am hooked. On the days that I cannot step out for my run I feel that something is missing,” Agarwal said.
Agarwal has been running regularly for around 4km every alternate day as a way to prepare for the run.
Shooter Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist, will flag off the race.
A sizeable number of people turned up even on Saturday for spot registrations for the Ananda Run, 25K and Champions With Disability categories.
The starting and finishing point is on Red Road.
The course spans Kidderpore Road, Mayo Road, Park Street, Gariahat, Golpark, Southern Avenue, Kalighat, Alipore and Hastings.
On Sunday, the Open10K run will start at 5.40am, followed by the 25K, Champions With Disability, Senior Citizens’ Run and Ananda Run.
The Police Cup and Vijay Diwas Trophy will see cops and military personnel sweat it out.
TSK 25K will be telecast live on Sony Sports1 and Sony Sports1 HD from 6am to 10am.
The event will be streamed live on SonyLIV, the organisers said.