Bhubaneswar: Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club (BCAC) has always been trying to introduce something innovative with its adventure activities. As we always say, “It’s not always about cycling or running, rather something more than that”. At a time, when the globe is concerned about the impact of climate change, BCAC has come out with a unique awareness initiative through its adventure activities in shape of a 151 (One Hundred and Fifty One) KM of Relay Run.
This unique concept of Relay Run, which connects the most significant cultural heritages of Odisha through the routes of Golden Triangle – Puri, Konark and Bhubaneswar, is significant in many ways. Shared as a Relay Running among 15 runners running 10KMs individually, this unique running event covers the Golden Triangle of Odisha over a distance of 151Kms. With a message of “Climate – Time to Protect” this is a completely new adventure activity in Odisha introduced by BCAC, which spreads the message of good health and active life with a responsible living on the earth.
“This is a completely new concept of running in our state Odisha. As a daily exercise, running has been adopted by many individuals of the modern world. Also as a fitness activity, running is becoming popular among the general mass in recent years. We have introduced this Golden Triangle Relay Run for spreading awareness about various social issues and make people understand their own responsibilities for the society. This year we have adopted the theme of “Climate change and its impact”. As we protect our body through running and other exercises, we send a message to the community to protect the climate for our future generations with regular care.” – said, Mr. Sanjeeb Panda, (IPS) President of BCAC & Commissioner Transport, Govt. of Odisha.
Mr. Lalit Das (IPS), CMD, Odisha Police Housing and Welfare Corporation flagged-off this grand event from Shri Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar at 7:00AM. The runners ran stretches of 10Kms while passing through the Sun Temple of Konark and Shri Jagannath Temple of Puri to finish again at the Lingaraj Temple covering a total distance of 151+KMs in almost 15 hours. The star runner of BCAC, Biswajit Tarai started the run from Sri Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar, passed the baton to other runners at scheduled distances as the distance covered. Ironman Soubhagya ran the last lap to bring the Baton back to Bhubaneswar to the starting place and handed it over to the President of BCAC, Mr. Sanjeeb Panda, who was present to welcome the runners at the Finishing Point.
“15 Baton-bearers ran 15 Laps of 10Kms each while other runners supported them through the route. The kids with their martial-arts uniform joined the runners from Pipili Toll Plaza till the old Pipili-Konark Road. Even some enthusiastic runners joined the Baton-bearers up to a few miles in between various places. The cyclists of BCAC provided complete escort for the runners through the entire route. We have planned this route via different villages, Puri town, the Grand Road (Bada Danda), Sea-Beach area, Chandanpur market, Pipili Market and internal roads inside Bhubaneswar for maximum connect with the local people so as to maximize the awareness component of our Relay Run.” – adds Ajay Nanda, the Secretary of 22 Bikes.
The Relay Run concluded in front of Shri Lingaraj Temple 10 minutes before the expected time of 10PM. The BCACians with their family members welcomed the runners, who completed a historic run with a goodwill message of Climate Protection. Some of the runners, namely Priyaranjan and Debendra continued their run for almost 40Kms after completing their scheduled lap.
Biswajit Tarai, Dr. Manas Baisakh, Kamlesh Soni, Sougata Sinha Roy, Raj Kumar Gunwant, Ajay Nanda, Krishanpal Singh, Debendra Kumar Hota, Priyaranjan Paltasingh, Monalisha Mohapatra, Sipra Hota, Harish Chandra, Manoj Prusty, Manas Ranjan Ojha, and Ironman Soubhagya Kumar Rath ran in relay mode in this Golden Triangle Relay Run. Dr. Utkal, Ansul Srivastav also joined the runners on the path. Uday and Santosh escorted the runners on their Royal Enfield Bullets for the entire stretch. Sibasis, Srinivas, Tirumal, Sujit, Dillip, Avinash, Manas, Chandan and other cyclists escorted the runners during the run. BCAC Junior Cyclist, Ms. Osheen (Pihu) also escorted the runners from Bhubaneswar to Konark, marking 61KM stretch as her longest distance over a bicycle at the age of just 6 years.
“This run will be conducted as an Annual Event of BCAC. We may think of making this event competitive in the coming years.” – says Mr. Sanjeeb Panda (IPS), President of BCAC.
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