Mumbai: The Great India Run, India’s first multi city marathon conceptualised by ProSportify in association with Mobiefit Technologies will conclude its legendary journey from New Delhi to Mumbai with a closing ceremony at the Bombay Radio Club, Gateway of India at 7:30 AM tomorrow. A half marathon starting from Agripada Plane Watching Spot in Santacruz and a 5k from Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Dhobi Talao, Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus Area, Fort will be held as part of the final leg of The Great India Run. Both the runs will end at Bombay Radio Club followed by the closing ceremony.
The 15 Ultra Runners from The Great India Run will be seen proceeding towards Bombay Radio Club along with the participants on 21k half marathon. The closing ceremony will be graced with the presence of Honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sh. Devendra Fadnavis along with our Icon Runner Milind Soman who ran a stretch of 570 kms from Ahmedabad to Mumbai for The Great India Run.
The Great India Run, that flagged off at the Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate in New Delhi on the 17th of July was aimed at spreading the message of fitness in India. Running from dawn to dusk every day, the runners did suffer from adversities such as injuries and unfavourable weather over the 1480 km ride. These little niggles and injuries, however were not enough to dent the ambitions of the runners participating in one of the largest runs undertaken in the country’s history with most of them successfully ending the run. The contingent remains the same with runners being Arun Bhardwaj, David Bredo, Yuri Esperson, Siddharth Choudhary, Meenal Kotak, Ranjana Deopa, Sreekanth Reddi, Melanie Delainey, Dinesh Heda, Joginder Chandna, Pia Hansson, Sunil Sharma, Shweta Sharma, Kaushal Chauhan and Dhanaee Kumar.
From the get-go, a positive vibe followed the runners, starting off with the pit stops at Ghaziabad and Gurugram, where a large number of non-runners made their first forays into running with the “Fun Runs”. Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and Silvassa also saw large participation at these runs. The entire feel was only magnified with the public response for the event. At Vapi for instance, the runners had the opportunity of running with students of “Vallabh Ashram School”. At other points, we also saw enthusiasts run a stretch alongside the runners.
The road travelled has been victorious. An experience to remember, Danish pair David Bredo and Pia Hansson called it one of the greatest experiences of their lives. Former Soviet Union Record holder Yuri Esperson, meanwhile, referred to it as magical. The air was one of accomplishment.
The cause of the event, to promote fitness in the country also saw some of the biggest corporate in the country bet on it. With a tagline of “Namak ke Waastey”, Tata Salt is the title sponsor of the event. Aquaguard was also roped in, and Adidas outfitted the event. The iTV owned and operated news channel, NewsX telecast crucial moments of the run.
