Champion athlete Powell is World 10K ambassador

BENGALURU: Olympian and world record holder in long jump Mike Powell will be the star attraction at this year's TCS World 10K Bengaluru race with the organizers Procam announcing that the legendary athlete will be the international event ambassador for the biggest road race in South India to be held on May 15.
"It is a personal honour for me to be the ambassador of such a prestigious running event in India.When communities come together and run as one, there is a sense of belonging that is inculcated in each of these runners, and that feeling is often the best runners' high there is," Powell said in a message.
"To be able to go out there and run a 5K or a 10K or a marathon, holding your focus that long is very, very difficult and to have that kind of determination for that long is just amazing. I'm glad to be witness to a running revolution such as the TCS World 10K and would like to wish all the participants good luck!" he added.
Procam CEO Dilip Jayaram said a total of 23,748 participants had registered for the race. "The elite field will be led by world half marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, Gladys Chesir, the fastest women in 10k and defending champion Mosinet Geremew and former world champion Patrick Makau," he added.
A total of 12,215 participants have entered for the 10km, 10,425 for the Majja run, 746 for the senior citizen race and 256 people in the Champions and Disability category. The ninth edition of the event saw a huge response with slots filling up in record time as registrations closed before deadline.
Confirming the huge interest, Nagaraj Ijari, vice-president and head of Bengaluru operations of TCS, said there was a 15 per cent increase in the participation of corporates this year. "We are 4,000 associates running from TCS and they registered in a record four days' time. Of this, 1,500 are running the full 10K race," Ijari said.
Recalling the various initiatives of the race, Urban Forest, which began five years back with the planting of saplings at the Madivala lake, has worked wonders. "Now there are 1,100 trees and it has helped in the revival of the lake which has attracted lot of birds including pelicans," Jayaram said.
This year's Expo, from where the runners collect their bibs, will be held at from May 6-8 at the Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium. "The outstation expo, for those coming from outside the city, will be at the Jnana Jyothi auditorium in Central College," Jayaram added.