It was still dark but hundreds had gathered at Bengal Rowing Club, raring to run at the BRC Marathon 2020 partnered by The Telegraph.

The run had three categories — 10K, 5K and 3K. The 10km race was the first to start, at 6.30am. While the 10K and 5K were competitive, 3K was a fun race for kids.

The 10K runners started from the BRC gate and they were to pass through the Rabindra Sarobar compound and Southern Avenue before ending their race at the BRC gate.

Of the 1,304 participants across the three categories, 552 were women, a count that made the organisers happy.

Roshan Lal, a BSF jawan from Malda, finished the 10K run first, clocking 38.19 minutes. Lal was part of a BSF group from Malda. “We run every day,” he said.

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The varied backgrounds and age of the participants — from 5 to 80 — made the race diverse and vibrant. Eight-year-old Devyaank Jain ran in the 5K category. With him ran his grandmother Prabha Jain, 65. Devyaank’s sister Rahini took part in the 3K category.

Devyaank was bustling with energy and darted towards the finish line as he was nearing the end. Rahini took part in the 3K fun run.

While some like 25-year-old Srinjoy Sen ran to have a measure of their fitness, many like 17-year-old Kushal Khandelia are sports buffs who are into running and other kinds of fitness training round the year.

Srinjoy said he ran with “zero preparation and fitness” and was happy to have finished 5K. Kushal, who plays cricket and football and is also into rowing, was among those who could finish 10K.

“This is the 4th edition of BRC Tata Structura Marathon partnered by The Telegraph. It started as a small event four years back and has grown big,” said marathon convener Vipul Majeji. “The female runners, who totalled 40 per cent, and the 3km run, in which so many kids participated, made the event even better,” he said.

There were nearly 150 prizes. The competitive sections were split into various age groups.