Picking up the Pace—Annual Cross Country Run
The MIT Sports Club, along with the Physical Education Department, organised a Cross Country Run on the morning of 15th September 2019. The participants and the organisers assembled at the MIT Recreation Center on Sunday to begin the long-distance running race at 6 AM. The event was inaugurated by Dr D Srikanth Rao, Director of Manipal Institute of Technology.
Kicking off at the recreation centre, the participants had to run for a pre-determined distance and make a round trip back to the centre to complete the run. A total of twenty-four participants—twenty-two boys and two girls participated in the event. While the boys had to run for eight kilometres across ten stops, the girls had to cover six kilometres across eight stops. Each stop placed across the route had members of the Sports Club who guided the runners and provided them with refreshments along the way.
At the end of the run, twenty-three participants completed the round trip, leaving one out of the two female participants out of the race. As per the rules set by the organisers, all participants completed the race within forty-five minutes of its commencement, which was a rare feat. Besides being an annual event held by the Sports Club, the event also served as the selection round for the MIT Cross Country team. Although the first six girls to complete the run would have made into the team, only one girl qualified due to lack of participation. On the other hand, the first ten boys to return to the Recreation Centre qualified for the team. “The objective of this event is to promote the idea of fitness among the people of Manipal, and I hope that in the coming years more people would take part in it”, said Shrey Pant, Vice President of MIT Sports Club.
Image Credits: The Photography Club, Manipal