Thousands participate in second edition of Tata Steel BSL Run-a-thon

Dhenkanal: The second edition of the Tata Steel BSL Run-a-thon organized in association with Dhenkanal district administration near the main gate of the company’s plant at Narendrapur on Sunday.

It was a grand success with the participation of around 3500 run enthusiasts from across the country.

The 10 km run, only professional run of the Dhenkanal-Angu-Talcher region, was flagged off which was followed by 5km run.

With an aim to create awareness among the community on environmental issues, the theme for the Run-a-thon 2020 was Lets Run for a Greener Earth.

Dignitaries present on the occasion included Rajeev Singhal, MD, Tata Steel BSL and other senior officials of the company including Subodh Pandey, COO, Sanjib Nanda, CFO, A K Saxena, Manikanata Naik, Chief, Corporate Services.

Pradipta Mohanty, District Sports Officer, Dhenkanal had joined from the district administration.

Thanking the district administration and other corporate houses for partnering for the run, Rajeev Singhal said along with promoting fitness and good health, the Run-a-thon is also creating awareness on environment and biodiversity as thousands, particularly the children, participate such enthusiastically to promote the cause.

The company will keep promoting such events in future too, he added.

Pankaj Lochan Mohanty said, “We thank Tata Steel BSL for organizing such a nice sporting event in the region and we also wanted to support it in the interest of the community. As it helps to create a sportive spirit among the masses and create awareness to stay healthy and keep oneself fit.”

Preeti Lamba from Haryana and Ranjeet Kumar Patel from UP in 10km run and Santosh Kumar Behera and Laxmi Majhai, both from Odisha, in 5km run became the winners in their categories.

Twenty winners, top 5 from each of the categories, won cash awards worth Rs 3 lakhs.

This time along with district administration MGM Minerals, Tata Motors, JSPL, NAV BHARAT Ventures, AMRI Hospital also partnered with Tata Steel BSL for this event.

The first run covered a distance of 10km starting from the plant gate and moving on the service road by the side of the NH-55 and returning by the same route, finally terminating at the origin.

This was followed by the 5km run for girls and boys between 12 to 16 years of age. Twenty winners, 5 from each of the categories, were awarded cash prize worth Rs 3 lakh, certificates and trophies.

To ensure the safety and comfort of all runners, Tata Steel BSL organized ambulances and water counters along the route. The local administration and police personnel played a significant role in traffic management.

State-of-the-art technology consisting of timing mats and its control units, radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, split timing mats on route, tracking camera, wi-fi network on route as per international standards were used to ensure a world standard conduct of the run-a-thon.