Silvassa: The herculean task of covering 1480 kilometers in 18 days, from Delhi to Mumbai has now become a doddle as the 15 Ultra Marathoners along with Icon runner Milind Soman today started off on the final stretch of the run from Silvassa. . Pratima Dutta, Manager, Tourism for Dadra and Nagar Haveli flagged off the run from the Forest Depot, Khanvel today early morning. The Silvassa leg is the final pit stop before the conclusion of The Great India Run in Mumbai on 4th August 2016. - Icon Runner Milind Soman along with all ultra runners commenced on their journey towards their final stopover Mumbai.
The 5K Fun Run, undertaken to promote the spirit of running and fitness saw a massive turnout from the locals. Students from Vallabh Ashram School also joined The Great India Run for a short distance at Vapi on the way to Silvassa. The Great India Run, conceptualized by ProSportify in association with MobieFit Technologies has seen runners from all over India converge to promote the very ethos of a fit nation.
The mammoth task of the run, was undertaken by 15 of the best Indian and international Ultramarathoners, namely, Arun Bhardwaj, Siddharth Choudhary, David Bredo, Yuri Esperson, Meenal Kotak, Ranjana Deopa, Melanie Delainey, Joginder Chandna, Sreekanth Reddi, Pia Hansson, Shweta Sharma, Sunil Sharma, Dhanaee Kumar and Kaushal Chauhan from New Delhi on the 17th of July. They have since then made their way across much of Northern and Western India.-. At Ahmedabad, Icon Runner Milind Soman, also the brand ambassador for the event set in motion his part of the run. The two groups ran parallel until Silvassa, where they converged and started off in tandem towards their ultimate goal, which is of reaching Mumbai on the 4th of August-.
The aim of the entire run is to celebrate running as a sport and fitness regime in the country. This positive message has seen many top corporates associate with it, including Tata Salt coming in as the title sponsor. The event has also seen an association with Aquaguard, and global sports apparel giant Adidas as the official kit. NewsX, the iTV owned and operated 24hour news channel is on board as producer of the run, and has and will continue to telecast the most crucial moments of the run.
In order to inspire people to take up running for fitness all the major pit stops have also seen 5k fun runs organized. These runs, including the run at Silvassa have all seen tremendous turnouts. Mumbai, the next and final stop will also see a 5k run on the 4th of August. Apart from celebrating the sport of running, -The Great India Run is an event that will help raise funds for the GoSports Foundation, towards boosting the dreams of the future Olympians of the country.
Throughout the run, two Ambulances, a Nutrition vehicle and a nutritionist, three physiotherapists, and two masseurs with a support staff of 40 have been travelling with the team, to support the health and well being of the runners.
