At the TSK 25K 2016 Countdown PC at Hospitality Partner The Oberoi Grand (L to R), Dilip Jayaram (CEO-Procam International), Vinaya Verma (CEO-M Junction), Peeyush Gupta, Vice President Steel Marketing & Sales, Tata Steel, Atindranath Das (Director-Eastern Region CRY), P N Sankaran (Director-Operation Procam International), Varun Chhibber (Oberoi Grand) and Kamalkumar Moitra (WBAA).

Puma Legend Boris Becker to flag off all races with Dignitaries

Limited running spaces available at the Nestle Get Active Expo, Khidiram ANushilan Kendra

Charity through the efforts of Philanthropy partner ‘United Way of Kolkata’ impacts lives

Raised INR 56 Lakhs in funds so far

With limited number of running spaces available, the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K has shown a healthy 18 per cent increase in timed runners running the 25K and 10K races. With joggers and walkers all set to turn the Red Road into a veritable carnival for health, communal harmony and charity and to show that the cerebral capital of the country is also on the highway to being the fittest.

With barely a week left for December 18, the promoters Procam International Pvt Ltd are hopeful of touching the magical five figure mark.

With Sourav Ganguly, as the face of the event, and PUMA Legend Boris Becker coming together, the event has received a huge fillip in extolling Kolkata to embrace participative sport. The iconic sports duo had appealed to the city to come out in numbers and Kolkata has not disappointed.

We are delighted to bring the third edition of “one of its kind” 25 KM run to Kolkata, sponsored by Tata Steel. Popularly known as TSK25, this event is a celebration of the unique sporting culture of Kolkata and passion of kolkatans to embrace anything meaningful to contribute to the society. This year, the TSK25 run will see an even greater participation from all spheres and will touch new records in terms of distance running and support to the noble cause. We wish participants, runners, amateurs and enthusiasts a fulfilling day and convey our sincere gratitude for this patronage. Said,” Peeyush Gupta, Vice President Steel Marketing & Sales, Tata Steel.”

The TSK 25K is the highest prize money race over this distance and the focus is exclusively on the National running talent. The event will see in action a 30-member strong Indian contingent fighting it out for the top spot with G Lakshmanan and Swati Gadhave leading the battle for prize money. With a total prize money of Rs 21,72,000, the fastest male & female runners amateurs in age category slabs also stand the chance to win Prize Money.

Police Cup: An event of this stature is not possible without the unstinted support from the Kolkata Police. To applaud their efforts and motivate them, there is a special category within the event – Police Cup, wherein a 3 member team will be running 10km each and the fastest aggregate team will be adjudged as the winner. The total prize money is INR 71,000.

Those who have failed to register can still grab an opportunity at the ‘ Nestlé Present’s Mirchi Get Active Health & Fitness Expo’. This will take place in the city from 15th to 17th December 2016 between 11 am to 7 pm (Thursday & Friday) and 11 am to 5pm (Saturday) at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra. The expo is a one-stop destination for runners and a unique opportunity for health, fitness and well-being enthusiasts to come together under one roof. On-spot registrations and collection of running numbers of confirmed participants can be done at the expo at the above mentioned time. Registered participants will also get a chance to meet PUMA legend Boris Becker.

“We are delighted to see such iconic sports personalities lending themselves to seed running and a healthy lifestyle in the city of Kolkata – Sourav Ganguly as the face of the event, Puma legend Boris Becker coming down to grace the event. We are extremely happy with the kind of response that we have got, especially in the timed distances as this entails commitment to training. Truly Kolkata is warming up to the idea of running and fitness. We would specially like to acknowledge and thank the Kolkata Police, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Sports Department for their support and whole hearted participation in the event planning, said Dilip Jayaram, CEO, Procam International.

CHARITY: While the third edition of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K will place emphasis on competitive distance running, charity will be a fundamental pillar together with Philanthropy Partner United Way Kolkata, the largest privately funded non-profit in the world.

Through their efforts, NGOs, corporate and individuals have and are continuing to support a cause they want to bring about a change to, by fundraising, going beyond assistance through donations alone. Runners are motivated by the spirit and desire to compete but more so by the knowledge that their physical efforts will result in positive change for countless people less fortunate than they are.

The 2016 edition of the event has 37 NGOs registered, supporting various causes likeEducation, Disability, Women Empowerment, Health, Women & Children and Community Development. The third edition of the event has already helped raise over56 Lakhs and contributions will keep coming till 6th Jan 2016. Along with raising funds, NGOs are given the opportunity to raise awareness for themselves.

Currently, 24 Corporates have registered to run and have donated INR 37.5 lacs. The Individual donations collected are INR 504264 and via Ketto, the online partner, INR 1361727 has been raised.

IMPACT 2015:It is a little known fact that cancer does not always have to result in death. In their various research works, Cancer Foundation of India (CFI) found that no hospital in Eastern India provided facilities for early detection of cancer and thus prevention! With the funds raised last year at the TSK25K, CFI started the Cancer Screening & Prevention Centre in Kolkata which serves the underprivileged for FREE.This specialized weekly clinic is for early detection of Oral, Breast and Cervical cancer. It is the first-of-its-kind clinic in East India!

Representing the charity domain and speaking about their experiences raising funds are Vinaya Varma is Chief Executive Officer of mjunction services limited, Suparna Das, Asst. General Manager: Illumination, Bajaj Electricals, Maqsood Siddiqi, Founder Chairman, Cancer Foundation of India, Atindra Nath Das, Director, Eastern Region, CRY, Anant Doogar- representing Kolkata Ultra Runners group, working with Jiwan group, Anuradha Kapoor, Founder of Swayam and Ashoka Fellow and Amrita Shah is a facilitator at Shrimad Rajchandra Divine Touch.

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