Pratyusha Mukherjee, Tawang ( Indo – China Border, Arunachal Pradesh)
Army’s one of the sports venture is “Tawang Marathon” which is India’s one of the most challenging mountain running venture.This year’s marathon brought together over 4,000 runners, including international participants, to the serene yet challenging valleys of Tawang at an altitude of 10,000 feet.
The Indian Army who are always made more than a billion people of the Motherland feel safe by guarding India’s International borders with their selfless sacrifice and dedication has also been very prominent with its contribution towards sports helping the country provide some of the best athletes on the global stage.
I talked to some Olympians and Asian Champions yesterday and tried to find out their thought about this prestigious high altitude Marathon.
Two senior athletes of Indian Track and Field,viz Soma Biswas and Sushmita Sinha Roy.
“It is a good initiative.This way we can see improvement in tourism, encouragement in fitness, empowering the local community, cultural exchanges, economic developments and lots more.”
Sushmita Sinha Roy, an Indian heptathlete shared. This lady won a silver and a bronze medal for her respective category at the IAAF Asian Championships (2005 in Incheon, South Korea, and 2007 in Amman, Jordan)
“I feel it’s great opportunity to promote local culture by collaboration with local authorities, and making it seen on the global map. Also a good drive to promote fitness too.Army’s contribution is immense. I urge them to promote more Sports at the remote areas of North East so that the youth will be interested to choose sports as a career.Also I feel the nation should be proud of Indian Army.”- Former Heptathlete *Soma Biswas* said.
She rose to fame when she won the two silver medal in 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea and another in 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
Shabbir Ali – the Hyderabadi footballer who represented city’s golden era of the sport.
He was awarded the Dhyan Chand Award, the highest award in Indian sports for lifetime achievement, given by Government of India in 2011.He is the first footballer to be named for the Dhyan Chand Award.
“It gives me great pleasure to hear that the Indian army and the Arunachal Pradesh state government will jointly organised the third edition of Tawang Marathon.
Such activities not only promote an awareness of sports and sports culture but also bring health and discipline into the lives of the people who take part in them.. I wish the programme all success. I hope to see more such initiatives in the future.”–Ali said.
Olympian Dilip Tirkey is presently appointed as President of Hockey India.
“Every altitude marathon is very much tough. It requires physical strength, mental toughness and regular practice to compete but I feel it’s a great morale booster for the people of Arunachal Pradesh. I wish Indian Army’s Tawang Marathon a great success.”
Former Indian Captain was delighted to heard about Tawang Marathon and congratulated Indian Army.
(Ms. Pratyusha Mukherjee, an Independent Sr. Broadcast Journalist working for British media with 20 years of experience in covering the east and northeast, with specialisation in Defence and Sports.In her illustrated career she has covered many major events and achieved International and Indian media awards for Journalism.)
