New Delhi: The Great India Run, India’s first multi city marathon conceptualised by Prosportify in association with Mobiefit is all set to flag off from the National Capital tomorrow at 6 AM. The 1480 Km long run, India’s first ever attempt to a multi-city marathon, will feature 15 of the best ultra marathoners from Asia, Africa, United States of America and Europe in its inaugural edition. Shri Vijay Goel, Honourable Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports along with Anju Bobby George, Khel Ratna will be gracing the flag off ceremony scheduled to take place at the Iconic India Gate tomorrow. Gul Panag, CoFounder, Mobiefit Technologies and Mr. Sagar Boke, CMO, Tata Salt will also be present at the flag off early morning on Sunday.
The Great India Run which is going to be an annual event has already roped in some interesting names as sponsors in its inaugural edition. The country’s first multi-city marathon has got on board Tata Salt as the title sponsors, while Aquaguard will power the run and global sports apparel giants Adidas will be the kit sponsors for the runners. In its inaugural edition, The Great India Run has got on board NewsX, iTV owned and operated 24 hour English News channel that will package and produce shows, live telecast special moments from the event across 21 days.
The Great India Run, which is being organised this year just ahead of the much awaited global sporting extravaganza, The Rio Summer Olympics, is an attempt at inspiring people of the country to get fit. To propagate this message the run will also see an interesting 5k fun run at every pit stop (Ghaziabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Silvassa and Mumbai) for beginners to inspire them to take up the sport as a regular activity in their life. A 21k run will also be organised at Silvassa, which will fall in the special 570 km stretch that celebrity runner Milind Soman would run from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. In line with the entire theme of the Ultra marathon, proceeds from the Fun Runs will go to the Go Sports Foundation to fund the dreams and efforts of future Olympians of the country.
“Runs like The Great India Run are a test of an individuals endurance levels and a distance of 1480 kms in 21 days will be a different level of challenge for all of us. However events like these are a neccessity to create aspirations and spread the message of fitness across the country and I am confident that we would spread the message effectively,” said India’s best known Ultra-Marathoner Arun Bhardwaj prior to the event.
“For a runner apart from running what also matters the most is exploring new landscapes and when you are presented with an opportunity to run in a magical country like India, its hard to let go off such an experience. I am glad that I am a part of the inaugural edition of The Great India Run and I am looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends in this journey,” said former Soviet Union national record holder Yuri Esperson who will also take part in the run.
The 15 runners who are scheduled to participate in the event are Arun Bhardwaj, Siddharth Choudhary, David Bredo, Yuri Esperson, Meenal Kotak, Ranjana Deopa, Sreekanth Reddi, Melanie Delainey, Dinesh Heda, Joginder Chandna, Pia Hansson, Sunil Sharma, Shweta Sharma, Kaushal Chauhan and Dhanaee Kumar. Accompanying the team, two Ambulances, a Nutrition Vehicle with nutritionist onboard, two Physios and two Masseurs along with a support staff of 40 are travelling.
