Cycle for fitness

The Rotary Club of Rourkela Royal, D 3261, recently ­promoted health and fitness among the citizens of the city through a ‘mega cyclothon’, with a ­participation of nearly 900 registrants, including 200 tribal students from the outskirts of the city. “We were happy that we could get participation from all strata of the society; it was not an ‘elite only’ event,” said Assistant Governor Ajay Agrawal.

Over 1,500 people had gathered to cheer the participants at the crack of dawn. Four types of marathons were flagged off by veteran cyclist Minati Mohapatra, an eight-time national champion, along with PDG Shashi Varvandkar.

While a 16-km race for men and women was the main attraction with a prize money of `11,000 (first), `5,000 (second) and `3,000 (third), three more fun rides of 16 km, 8 km and 4 km were also held simultaneously for the younger age groups. A host of entertainment programmes offered plenty of thrills to the visitors. By the time the event got over by 10 am, the happy faces and rave posts on social media did a world of good to the club’s public image.

Cyclothon Chairman Rakesh Agrawal, a renowned cyclist who had taken part in national and global ­marathons and the brain behind this event, and Club President Vivek Lall have decided to further scale up the project in 2018.

Corporate entities such as Scan Steels, Track & Trail, Audi ­Bhubaneswar, Mahanadi ­Coalfields and the Petroleum Research ­Conservation Authority also pitched in with sponsorships.