The City of Joy begins the countdown to the 2nd edition of India’s first accredited 25K run – the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, that will be flagged off on Sunday, 20th December 2015 from the iconic Red Road, where Runners, Joggers and Woggers will participate for a host of reason’s ranging from health & fitness, Charity, and to show their solidarity with Kolkata.
The registrations have been overwhelming with over 6500 registrations logged in till date. Limited running spaces would be opened on a first come first served basis at the expo, starting the 17th of Dec. The timed races; the 25K and 10K, where in every runner’s bib is embedded with a timing chip is 33% of ALL registrations received till date.
The others races at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25k, will be the Senior Citizens run (4km), the Champions with Disability (4 Km) and the Ananda run (5km approx) which will feature the ‘Jabong run in costume’ where the best creative costumes across groups, individuals and couples will stand to win prize money.
Peeyush Gupta, Vice President Steel (Marketing & Sales), Tata Steel, said, “Tata Steel is delighted to once again bring to the people of Kolkata Eastern India’s most popular and prestigious distance running event, the TSK25. The event is aimed at promoting health and fitness, even as it provides us with an opportunity to raise funds for various noble causes. This year, TSK25 has got bigger and will unlock an exciting new challenge to test the fitness and endurance of India’s finest professional athletes, amateur runners and fitness enthusiasts”.
The TSK 25K is the highest prize money race over this distance and the focus is exclusively on the Indian running talent, giving professional and amateur men and women from Kolkata and around the country a proven platform to showcase their talent. With a total prize money of Rs 22,80,000, the fastest male & female runners in age category slabs also stand the chance to win Prize Money.
The run will witness elite Indian runners, including the Rio Olympic qualifiers O.P. Jaisha (Current National marathon record holder), Lalita Babbar (Current Indian national record holder in 3000 metres steeplechase & new record time holder in Half Marathon), Sudha Singh (Asian Games Gold Medalist in steeplechase event), O. Sanaton Singh, Elam Singh, among others.
Continuing with the ART for SPORT initiative, Wasim Kapoor, the renowned artist would lead 37 painters, one for each registered NGO at the event. The initiative will see artists painting LIVE at the Start line, and would include Debashish Mullick Chowdhury, Anjan Bhattacharya, Sarffuddin Ahmed, Utpal Ghosh, Rintu Roy Chowdhury, Rajib Sur Roy, Pranab Roy, Vani Chawla, Shubla Varma and many other famous artists who would create their magic on canvas in support of various causes. The proceeds from the funds raised will go to the NGOs.
The ‘Radio Mirchi Get Active Health & Fitness Expo’ is organised and marketed by Radio Mirchi Activations. This will take place in the city from 17th to 19th December 2015 between 11.00 am to 6:00 pm at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium, Gate D, BBD Bagh, Kolkata. 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.
Vivek Singh, Jt. Managing Director, Procam International said, “The kind of registration numbers we are looking at shows how deeply the people of Kolkata are involved and how close the run is to their heart. We are sure within the next few days we will see the remaining slots being filled up. We welcome and thank our runners and partners for supporting the event and helping it grow to this level.”
Charity – Running is today the countries single largest generator of funds and the TSK25 will have the same systems as the races in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. While the second edition of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K will place emphasis on highly competitive distance running, charity will be a fundamental area of focus together with Philanthropy Partner United Way Kolkata. United Way is one of the top 10 charities in the world. It has a global network of more than 1400 United Ways in 41 countries that work to advance the common good of local communities.
Through the efforts of the United Way Kolkata, NGOs, Corporates 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.
Thus far, 37 NGOs including CRY, Oral School for Deaf Children, HelpAge India, GOONJ, Cancer Foundation of India, World Vision, Kolkata Empowerment Foundation (to name a few) supporting various causes ranging from Education to Human Rights, Disability, Environment and Healthcare etc.
Corporate Champions, part of the charity efforts where participants representing different organisations run – is a category that is gaining tremendous popularity among organizations and is being viewed as a highly effective team building exercise and HR engagement for employees. In its second edition, the run has received participation from many of the leading corporate houses like KPMG, Bajaj Electricals, MJunction, TCS, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Magma Finance, Titan, Voltas, Johnson & Johnson, Tata Communications and Tata Steel with over 550 participants from 23 teams, having already raised INR 37 lacs!
Individuals participating raising funds include:
Bahadur Postwalla– Member, Governing Board, Oral School for Deaf Children
Bahadur Postwalla, is a Chartered Accountant by profession. He spent his entire working career of 46 years with the Williamson Magor Group (formerly Macneill & Barry Group) ending as Managing Director of McNally Bharat. Sports and social activities are two of his favourite pastimes and after retirement, he has spent much of his time with the East India Charitable, the Parsee Community Trust and The Oral School for Deaf children, among other societies and institutions I am attached to. Mr. Postwalla is also the highest (having raised over 1 and a ½ lacs and counting!), as well as the oldest fundraiser for this year’s run!
Sutapa Biswas, Founder Director, Cancer Foundation of India.
A personal loss in 2001 changed the trajectory of her life and she went on to create the Cancer Foundation of India with other eminent professional, and developed the Cancer Communications component through CFI public health programmes. Sutapa specializes in Health Communication and has been working in the area of cancer control with special emphasis on tobacco-related cancers, breast cancer and cervical cancer. Her work has been widely acclaimed both nationally and internationally. She is a UICC fellow and has received prestigious fellowships from the American Cancer Society, International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO), Cancer Council Australia (UICC), the European Union and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA.
Kamal Prakash, Philanthropist/ Businessman, Jiwanram Sheoduttrai Group
Mr. Kamal Prakash is a businessman and philanthropist working for a century old Philanthropic business house. He is Co-founder of Dakshini Prayash, an institution working for under-privileged for the last twenty four years in the field of Education, Health Care and Self-Reliance. He is also President of Antara, the largest NGO managed institution in the field of mental health in India and is closely involved in Kolkata Empowerment Foundation. All three NGO’s are using the platform of TSK25 to raise money for the excellent work that they are doing.
Tina Desai– Fundraiser for Srimad Rajchandra Love and Care
Tina Desai is a home mother and a sevak with Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care (SRLC) since 2009. I am actively involved in the education and community care of our 10 benevolent programmes.
I was clueless thinking ” what next “.. I too like you wanted to do good for our society’s upliftment…but was unsure of the right people… Right direction…till Shrimad Rajchandra love and care found me. It gave me a goal in life .. Taught me the real dharma… (No isms) which is..” No complain… Not to sit back…but to empathise with someone’s pain and REACH OUT to them…
It taught me humanity.
Arun Lal– Former Indian Cricketer & Current Commentator
Arun lal former test cricketer and commentator associates himself with this event because he is a regular runner which he does for fitness and he finds this event the tsk 25 is an unique, and healthy way to raise funds for charity. He is a friend of united way and support uwk in the good work they do.
Title Sponsor : TATA STEEL
Hospitality Partner: The Oberoi Grand
Supported by : Government of West Bengal
Under the Aegis of: West Bengal Athletics Association
Certified By: (AIMS) Association of International Marathons and Distance Races
Promoted by: Procam International
For more details contact:
Procam International
Neha Kandalgaonakar / Deepak M. Pilankar
Concept PR
Sandipa Ghosh
+91 9883016244