This year’s significant attraction for the runners is the AIM’s Certified race distance
Shilp Aarambh GIFT CITY RUN – Season 2- to be held on 18th February, 2024
BILKULONLINE
Ahmedabad, Jan 6: Shilp and Snehshilp Foundation announce the second edition of Shilp Aarambh – GIFT City Run – A run towards a drugs-free future, to be held 18th February 2024 at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.
The First season of the event had a thundering success, which was participated by 15,000 runners comprising of some runners from different cities of India. Importantly, ‘Shilp Aarambh’ – GIFT City Run 2024” is a crucial step in spreading awareness and rallying support for the noble cause of eradicating drug addiction and substance abuse, with a special focus on our invaluable youth.
Snehal Brahmbhatt, Founder of Snehshilp Foundation while interacting with the media said “The pivotal role of our youth is the true assets of the nation. Recognizing this, on the one hand, it is important that we invest in the holistic development of our nation’s youth. On the other hand it is essential that we safeguard them from the pitfalls of drug addiction and substance abuse. PM Narendra Modi has launched Viksit Bharat@2047: Voice of Youth and he believe that our youth is both the agent of change as well as the beneficiaries of change. India has its largest young population ever and as Modi Ji said – Yahi samay hai, Sahi Samay hai!”
“Under the esteemed leadership of the Prime Minister and in line with the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and Fit India initiatives, Shilp and Snehshilp Foundation have taken the initiative to organize this run. We are proud to have the support of the Physical Education Foundation of India (PEFI), an organization dedicated to the development and awareness of physical education and sports in the country” added Snehal.
Mary Kom– Olympic Medalist, 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS and 6 times AIBA Women’s World Champion as well as Pride of Indian Boxing Circuit is the Brand Ambassador of the Shilp Aarambh GIFT CITY RUN – Season 2. She will be inspiring the runners with her motivating presence at the event.
Present at the Press Conference, Prof. Dr Arjunsinh Rana , Vice Chancellor, Swarnim Gujarat Sports University & President Pefi – Gujarat , Dr Akash Gohil, GTU Sports Officer, R. M. Chaudhari : District Education Officer, Ahmedabad City expressed their happiness to associate with Shilp Aarambh Gift City Season 2 run as it is going to be the biggest International Run, with international as well as domestic runners, with the number of runners going beyond 20K! The lust green environment, clean air and structured and well-planned route at GIFT City is the biggest attraction for all our runners. The runners shall also be awarded with AIMS Certificate for participation.
Surpreet Singh Khalsa (Suri Paaji), while providing the details about the race “we were overwhelmed with the feedback of the first season of the event. This year’s Shilp Aarambh GIFT CITY RUN prize money has been doubled to Rs. 12 lakh. We are expecting over 15,000 runners. This year’s significant addition is the Certification by The Association of International Marathons (AIM).Over 100 runners from our neighbouring countries are also participating in the race making it truly an international event at Gandhinagar”.
Students of several schools, colleges and universities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar have taken keen interest in the event and have started registering for the event. The 60:40 ratios of men to women runners is generally experienced at such events. Mary Kom is the ambassador of the event wishes to promote the idea of ‘Clean Sports’ to all the players of India.
“We have included entire Gift city for Half Marathon (Single Circuit) this time and age group (in 5 year age slot) has been increased upto 70 plus years. Idea is to involve more and more people to spread this strong message of making our society free of menaces and vices of addiction” Suri said.
Another attraction of the event is the participation of two ‘Champions with Disability’ namely Mumbai’s visually impaired ‘Sporty Sikh’Amarjeet Singh Chawla and Mahesh Dubasia, (who is impaired with one hand) Para cricket player in standing from Mumbai. They will inspire the runners and spread the message of the race. Special T-shirts will be provided to the runners and their overall care and medical standby arrangement have also been managed by the organisers.
Supriya Roy from Snehshilp Foudnation explained that the runners who participated in our maiden effort of organising the event have shown lot of interest in it. They in fact started registering first as soon as we announced the idea of organising the second season of the race.
“Season 2 of the Shilp Aarambh Gift City Run continues our commitment to making a positive impact. We invite you to join us in our mission for a drug-free future. This season, we aim to engage with even more participants, spread awareness further, and provide a platform for those affected by addiction to find support” added Supriya.