The Fitness Club of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta hosts the First “7 Lakes Run”
Kolkata: The Fitness Club of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, hosted a marathon-style timed run called ‘7 Lakes Run’ on the campus on Saturday 22nd February.
In the purview of the Government of India’s ‘Fit India Campaign’ the institute organized a marathon-style timed race on its lush green campus. There were 3 variants of the run- 2.5km, 5km and 10km. Over 670 participants took part in the run from various age groups, the youngest being a child of age five and the eldest being eighty plus.
The marathon was flagged off by Professor Anju Seth, Director IIM Calcutta and Professor Bodhibrata Nag, Dean (Academic) and chief guests Arun Kumar Singh and Elvis Jackson.
Athlete Arun Kumar Singh began running at the age of 52. Competing in several state, national and international meets, Mr. Singh has run over thirty marathons and has won a gold medal at the age 67 at the Asian level. Encouraging the runners alongside was Elvis Jackson who has been a professional physical instructor since the last thirty-five years and has represented India in the World Darts championship as well as Grade 1 umpire of The Cricket Association of Bengal.
The Fitness Club of IIM-Calcutta was overwhelmed by the response received from fitness enthusiasts across India and had to reopen its registrations to accommodate persistent requests. Participants included young adults, elderly folks, enthusiastic families, passionate students, native running groups, Limca Book record holders, differently abled candidates, Police Force members, and state administration employees making a total of 670+ registrations.
Prominent winners –
Abhinash Biswas completed 10 km in 36 mins 25 seconds.
Kistu Hansdiha-Jharkhand participant, 1st runner up 5KM variant
Katharina Prietl- Exchange student from Austria, winner 10KM variant
Neha Sannabhadti-14-year-old, winner 5KM variant
Some prominent personalities participating in the ‘7 Lake Run’ were Ashish Bajaj – Pinkathon Ambassador, Soumen Chatterjee – Leads India’s largest running academy “Jayanagar Jaguars” Kolkata chapter, Arun Kumar Singh – Represented India in Master Athletics, Vijay Boddupalli – Limca Book Record holder, India Book Record holder, Telugu Book Record holder, Dipali Singh – Visually Impaired participant – participated in 10KM variant of the race.
The event was conceptualized and executed by the Convenors Bhanu Kumar Paliwal and Hunar Gandhi (MBA students of IIM Calcutta).
A team of twenty MBA students worked alongside their academic engagements to put this mega event together
Post the event, there were dance performances choreographed by the IIM Calcutta Choreography Club and a concert by Students’ band- JBS Baro-C to conclude the evening on a musical note.