Bangalore’s largest running event, the TCS World 10K concluded in Bangalore last Sunday with Kenyan runner Geoffrey Kamworoor-Kipsang setting a new record in the Men’s category with a timing of 27 minutes 44 seconds. The final count of runners participating at the event was exceeding 24,000 people.

The 7^th edition of the event saw Tata Consultancy Services return as Title Sponsors with support from the Karnataka Athletics Federation under the aegis of Athletics Federation of India. Procam International was the chief promoter of the event.

Logistics giant DHL sponsored the Corporate Challenge, the category that encourages corporates to participate in the tournament. Here, each team comprised of three members with each member completing the distance of 10 km. The average of the net finish timings of all three runners decided the finish positions in this category.

On the non-profit side, Bangalore Cares was the Charity partner at the event. They were responsible to show off Bangalore’s giving side, and were looking to beat last year’s sum of 3.71 crores raised for charity. In all its editions, the event has already raised a total of nearly 12 crore, propelling it amongst the largest charity raising events in the state of Karnataka.

Nike also took part in the event and announced for the first time in the tournament’s history the official race day tee. Made out of 100% polyester, the tee helped keep runners dry and cool during the race, subsequently enhancing performance.

Speaking on the company’s long-standing association with the event, Mr. N Chandrasekaran, CEO & MD of Tata Consultancy Services, earlier said, ‘Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been associated with the TCS World 10K Bangalore for four years and we are extremely proud of the fact that the event has grown in popularity and stature as the city’s premier athletic event. With the citizens embracing this event as their own, we hope to see more and more people participate in large numbers in this year’s run.'

 ‘As an organisation that has a young workforce, we encourage our associates to live a healthy and active lifestyle and a focus on wellness is an important part of our corporate culture. We had over 3,500 TCSers and their families participating across various categories in this year’s event while promoting our TCS Fit4Life programme.’

Going by the popularity and magnitude of the event, it is anyone’s guess that the event will only get bigger with subsequent editions. Brands too will seek to invest in various categories at the event with the intent of creating specific recall rather than come on board as mere associate sponsors.