The sky was still dark and it was a good 40 minutes to sunrise. It was the coldest day of the season so far. But thousands of people on Red Road were raring to go.
Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata, partnered by The Telegraph, reaffirmed its status as the biggest road race in this part of the world.
Not only because some of the world’s and India’s top long-distance runners were competing, but because of the passion for running the event has triggered in the ordinary citizenry.
The Open 10K and the Police Cup run were flagged off at 5.30am. The segment had close to 8,000 participants, the most in any category.
Most of them arrived well in advance and warmed up to groovy and energetic music in the holding area on the Maidan greens. They lined up at the starting blocks from 5.15am. As soon as the clock struck 5.30, a sea of heads surged forward.
The minimum temperature on Sunday was 12.5 degrees, three notches below normal, making it the coldest day so far this season. But the festive frenzy around the race made light of the chill.
“Amazing energy. Unbelievable love for running,” was how Sol Campbell, the former England and Arsenal defender and international event ambassador for the race, described what he saw from the dais on Red Road.
Ashish Bagree, 31, was one of the participants in the 10K segment. The Mudiali resident has run the full 25km stretch in this event more than once. But on Sunday, he was back after a break.
In 2018, he underwent surgery to donate his liver to his nephew, who was then 10.
“This is my first run after the operation. Running not only keeps the body fit, it also strengthens your mind. I think my love for running made me better prepared for the surgery,” he said.
The ninth edition of the race had 20,537 registrations, the highest ever. Of them, 6,978 were from outside Bengal, the most in recent years and a testament to the rising stature of the race.
A schoolteacher from Varanasi, Dipankar Banerjee, ran 25K and his daughter, Vishnupriya, a Class XII student, ran in the 10K segment.
The two landed in the city on Saturday. “We came to Calcutta just to take part in this run. We exercise and run regularly and it will be a test for me as well as my daughter to see if we can finish,” said Banerjee before he started the race.
The 25km course, which connects some of Calcutta’s iconic landmarks and the leafy neighbourhoods, impressed Banerjee.
After the race ended, both father and daughter were among the finishers. The Banerjees said they would come next year, too.
Every segment of the race was oversubscribed this year and it showed on Red Road on Sunday.
The 4.5km Ananda Run had close to 5,500 participants. True to the name, the segment saw people who ran like it was a festival, waving hands, taking pictures and doing high-fives all along.
The senior citizens were not to be left behind. A 48-member team had come from Tollygunge. They were members of a laughing club on Moore Avenue.
“We have been coming here every year. This event is a celebration of life and the spirit of Calcutta,” said Priyatama Ghosh, 79, one of the members.
The TSW 25K is credited with triggering a running revolution in Calcutta. In the inaugural edition in 2014, the organisers struggled to fill the slots. There were hardly any running groups in Calcutta.
Now, they are aplenty and all segments of the race are oversubscribed.
Diksha Jhunjhunwala, Getanjali Sundaram and Jhuma Sinha are members of one such running group. On Sunday, Diksha, a 42-year-old fashion designer, was a pacer in the 10K segment.
Geetanjali, 47, an associate professor of biochemistry at Calcutta University, and Jhuma, 50, a mathematics teacher at Modern High School International, ran with her.
A pacer, or a pace-setter, is a veteran runner who sets a steady pace throughout the course and leads a group of runners from the start to the finish at the predetermined time. In running parlance, a group following a pacesetter is called a bus. The 10km segment has an all-women pacers’ team.
“Distance running is like meditation for me,” said Diksha.
Sanjay Budhia, 58, managing director of Patton Group, did the Ananda Run with his father H.P. Budhia, 85. Budhia senior summed up what TSW 25K means for the city: “It is a must in my calendar. We all wait for this winter morning.”