Mumbai: Marathon puts fast foot forward

Running slots are sure to be fast filling up just like the Darbar Hall of the resplendent Maharashtra governorrsquos residence Raj Bhavan on Thursday evening The Malabar Hill landmark was the venue for the launch of the Tata Mumbai Marathon TMM to be held on January 21 2024As a substantial audience listened the marathon announcement event took off with promoters Procam International announcing that registrations for the 42km race opened yesterday evening August 10Vivek Singh joint MD Procam International recalled the racersquos deep connection with Raj Bhavan Singh said ldquoOn the third Sunday of January 2024 it will be the 19th edition of the marathon It is time to turn the clock back to all those years ago when we wanted live television coverage of the race At that time we were told that two choppers were needed to be in the air for at least 45 hours for the television relay Then we approached and got permission from the Raj Bhavan for the helicopters to land and refuel at the Raj Bhavan during the course of their filming flight That is how deep our ties gordquo he explainedRahul Bose social activist who has been associated with the event for years claimed the marathon is now inextricably woven in the fabric of the city ldquoMumbai is the music of the impossible dreamrdquo said Bose poetically Chhagan Bhujbal minister food amp civil supplies recalled an event called the Mayorrsquos Marathon in Mumbai years earlierldquoAfter that came the Mumbai marathon I was deputy CM then I remember a meeting with the police commissioner where initially the latter had said fiercely I will not close the roads I said this marathon will happen The roads will remain closedrdquo he explained to cheers Bhujbal recalled the coronavirus which entailed event cancellation There was also the spectre of terrorist attacks ldquoLike Ratan Tata has said pointing to terrorists lsquoYou can injure us hurt us grievously but never finish us off in spiritrsquordquo Bhujbal announced as the audience applaudedGovernor Ramesh Bais spoke about the Mumbai streets becoming a great leveller While this is an oftrepeated observation as a top corporate is on the start line with a labourer in a marathon it was good to hear Bais who added ldquoAt the marathon men and women a trans person the LGBT community all can and do run togetherrdquo There was a rainbow in the sky symbol of diversity synonymous with the queer community over Raj Bhavan that afternoonThere were a couple of tweaks for the edition Registering for the TMM 2024 will allow every stakeholder to upgrade to a TMM green bib and be part of the TMM Agro Forest initiative A participant can upgrade to a TMM Green Bib during registration and become a TMM evergreener The minimum contribution during an upgrade is one tree however one can choose to contribute more than one tree and even a oneacre farm The contribution amount for 1 tree is R635 After getting your green groove on a special report by the Indian Institute of Sports Management highlighting the marathonrsquos influence on health social impact economic growth and sustainability backed by numbers was also releasedHerersquos how to registerFor more details and registration go to httpstatamumbaimarathonprocamin