19,000+ expected for 'physical' TCS World 10K 14th edition

TCS World 10K Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Procam International, promoters of the Tata Consultancy Services World 10K, Wednesday highlighted arrangements that are in place for the 14th edition of the event, which is expected to witness over 19,000 participants on Sunday, 15th May.  

Returning to physical race after a two-year hiatus rought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisers of TCS World 10K have taken several measures to ensure a safe race for all its participants.  

Outlining the various medical facilities, Dr Vivek Jawali, chief Cardiothoracic & Vascular surgeon, chairman, Dept of Cardio Vascular Sciences, Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore said: “Fortis Hospitals take pride in being associated with the prestigious TCS 10K Run. As a medical partner, we have more than 200 medical professionals on-ground which include senior clinicians, physiotherapist, nurses and other support staff. All COVID protocols are being followed, the Fortis staff on-ground are fully vaccinated. We have organised two base camps – one inside the stadium and one outside in the campus. There are three medical stations enroute and fully equipped ambulances are placed at each of these stations. We have also organised mini-ambulances, bikers with a medical team member; approximately 25 spotters would be deployed at appropriate locations.” 

Dr Jawali added: “We at Fortis promote fitness and so many of our doctors and staff are participating in the run. Many of them are registering online and some would also be registering on-spot at the expo tomorrow (Thursday).” 

Also present at the press conference was A Raja Velu, secretary, Karnataka Athletics Association (KAA), who said, “We are happy the TCS World 10K Bengaluru is taking place after two-year gap. The KAA is extending full support for the event and we are providing 100 experienced technical officials who will be helping in conducting the race successfully.” 

The 14th edition of the TCS World 10K will see slight changes in the route. While the route for World 10K for elite men and women will remain the same as previous editions, there is a slight change in the route for the Open 10K category, which will be flagged off at 5:30am on race day. 

“95 per cent of the route is the same except at the Kamaraj road. Due to the metro station construction, the distance lost there will be matched inside Cubbon Park, where the participants for Open 10K will need to take a left from KSLTA, go up till the round-about and come back on the original route and the finish line for this category will be outside Kanteerava Stadium on Kasturba Road,” stated Mandar Pandya, vice president and head of Operations, Procam International.  

RACE CATEGORIES & START TIME  
Race Category  Start Time 
Open 10K       5:30am 
World 10K Women  7:10am 
World 10K Men  8:00am 
Champions with Disability &  Sr. Citizen Run (4.2k) 8:05am 
Majja Run (5k) 8:50am 

Vivek Singh,Jt. MD, Procam International, noted: “We are grateful to Dr Jawali and his team who have ensured every necessary precaution and protocols are in place to tackle any medical emergency that may arise during the race. I am also grateful to KAA who have been shoulder-to-shoulder with us, supporting the event from the very beginning.  

“The weather in Bengaluru has been lovely over the past few days and with the Government providing us with a fantastic route, we may have a chance at creating a new course record this time. We have nine international athletes who have gone under the TCS World 10K course record time of 27.44.”  

RACE DAY ARRANGEMENTS 
Runners are TCS World 10K’s biggest stakeholders and Procam will continue with deploying initiatives towards making race day more memorable for all participants. 

MEDICAL ARRANGEMENTS BY FORTIS, MEDICAL SERVICES PARTNER  
    1 base camp with 30 beds at the finish line & 1 mini basecamp inside the stadium.  
    3 medical stations along the route.  
    7 ACLS ambulances and 3 Omni ambulances  

    (Ambulances are stationed at junctions and will move in case of emergency and Omni at the finish for quick shuttling from the finish line to base camp in case of emergency 
    Medical personnel present at the finish lines equipped with stretchers and wheelchairs to attend immediate emergency requirements. 
    Six Medics on Bikes along the race route to ensure help is made available at all times. 
    230 medical personnel will be present on race day that including 30 doctors -- Chief Consultants, Anesthetists, Orthopedics, ICU care in charge, Cardiologists, General Physicians, Physiotherapists 
    As a helping hand to doctors, 100 nurses and support staff who are well trained for basic and advanced life support will be present 

    FACILITIES FOR THE RUNNERS 

    For the convenience of the participants, the following facilities are available along the route and at the start/finish. 

    Facilities on-course   
    6 Bisleri water stations on the course and 1 post finish by Bisleri, Hydration Partner  
    2 FAST&UP stations on the course and 1 post finish by FAST&UP, Energy Drink Partner 
    2 orange stations on the course 
    1 The whole Truth snack station, Official Snack  
    16 mobile toilets on the course 

Start/Finish Facilities  
    Asics Warm-Up Zone  
    Volini Recovery Zone  
    Refreshments & Medals  

ECO Stride  
Apart from being a globally acclaimed sporting event, the TCS World 10K has created a phenomenal impact in terms of social change and established itself as the largest sporting charity platform in South India. 

In the last few years, the event has also proactively been implementing sustainable measures to mitigate waste generation in a mass participation event. 

These initiatives primarily focus on the reduction of Plastic, Waste Segregation & Management and Distribution of Food Waste in partnership with the BBMP and Hasiru Dala Innovations, a social enterprise- focused on creating better livelihoods for waste pickers. They will spearhead and advise on different eco-friendly alternatives to ensure efficient waste management and over-see last mile disposal and consequent recycling plans. 

TCS World10K and also the other events conducted by Procam recently received an award from Business World at the Recycling for Greener Tomorrow Awards 2022 for 'Best Solid Waste Management Program in a Public-Private Partnership Model'   

Some of the initiatives for the 2022 edition of the run are highlighted below: 

Zero to Landfill  
TCS World 10K is committed to achieving Zero waste to Landfill. All the waste generated from the event will either be reused, recycled, composted or processed in a bio-gas facility.

Limited Plastic Use 
    All Branding and Signage banners that will be put out on race day, will be printed on cloth. After the event, all these cloth banners will be stripped off the 
frames and made into other utility products like bags etc. thus extending its use for as long as possible 
    Medals to be handed to runners in cloth pouches 
    Bibs at the expo will be distributed to the runners directly and without plastic envelopes 
    Food and Refreshments on Race Day to be given out in handy and reusable cloth bags 
    Runner Bags handed out in the Expo to be also made from Cloth. 
    Plastic trash bags will be replaced by HDPE re-usable bags 

Limited Plastic Water Bottles at the Event  
    Water Dispensing Stations will be set up inside the Venue/Holding Area/Start/Finish Area. 
    Drinking water at the venue to be provided in 100% recyclable paper cups without plastic lining 
    Limited mineral water bottles to be provided at the refreshment area after the race to help refill when required. 
    Plastic Bottles to be provided on the route which will be properly collected and recycled.

Waste Segregation and Management  
    Strategically placed wet and dry waste bins to encourage participants and attendees to dispose of waste consciously which will facilitate waste segregation at source. 
    Excess edible food to be distributed through NGOs to deserving communities. 
    Directly connecting with the waste-picker community to ensure that they benefit from Waste generated as an added incentive apart from the part-time job opportunity. 
    Food Waste to be collected for processing in a Bio-Gas facility. 
    All paper cups will be sent to certified recyclers for recycling. 
    Any non-recyclable waste will be sent for co-processing as per SWM Rules