Tata Steel Kolkata Marathon goes International

It was around a little more than a decade ago that the Procam brothers started distance running as a full fledged sport in India drawing inspiration from London Marathon.

And today Anil and Vivek Singh have successfully turned into Marathon echelons of India where they keep adding more and more cities to recognise and participate in distance running.

While their flagship property happens to be the Mumbai Marathon that is one of the most sought after and internationally recognised Marathons in the world, the distance running property in Kolkata now makes a mark.

Coming Sunday will see the running of the Tata Steel Kolkata Marathon. December 17 will witness Kolkata take the streets to make their mark in this international marquee run.

It is a 25 kms feature race that also features a 10 km senior citizens run.

The city of Kolkata flooded with international champions and local runners will take the starting line early Sunday morning on December 17.

The run has turned into a marquee international event.

The marathon will witness in action the World Champion Kenenisa Bekele leading the men’s elite field. The runners will be cheered by living sporting legend Mike Powell and Sourav Ganguly. They will be present to inspire the runners.

The marathon will witness a strong Indian contingent lead by defending champion and course record holder G. Lakshmaman along with BSF Half Marathon winner Kalidas Hirave in the men’s race and Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2017 winner and course record holder L. Suriya, defending champion Monika Athare and Rio Steeplechase finalist Lalita Babar in the women’s category.

This year the property of Procam International has already raised INR 42 lakhs for charity with support from United Way Kolkatta.

18 corporate houses have registered to run and have donated INR 38.5 lakhs to charity through this platform. Individual donations of INR 4.17 lakhs have been collected via Ketto, the Fundraising platform.

“The festive spirit seems to be in full flow in Kolkata with the way the TSK 25 has leapfrogged in terms of charity & participation. The timed races and senior citizens categories reaching capacity is a huge landmark and affirms the change towards a healthy life style that Kolkata has adopted,” concludes Dilip Jayaram, CEO of Procam International.