Ecorun 2010 was on Feb. 9 and 10. The starting point was Thirunakkara maidan in Kottayam. The end point was the Gandhi Park in Trivandrum. The route was MC Road up to Kottarakkara, then Kollam, and then NH 47 to Trivandrum. Two items were planned. One was a relay by school and university students and the other was a solo run by our founder.

The Relay

The Relay began at Kottayam on February 9 at 11:08 am. There was just one team at any point in the relay.

Each team covered exactly 2km. Where a team ended, the next began. Each team was made up of two runners. Students from a district ran the segment of the route in that district. The relay ended at 6 pm on Feb 9 and began again at 9 am the following day, ending at Gandhi Park in Trivandrum at about 7 pm on February 10. The distance covered by the relay was 173km.

The Solo run

This was to be a continuous solo run from Kottayam to Trivandrum – a distance of about 172 kms. The run was to start at 2 pm from Thirunakkara Maidaanam, Kottayam, on Tuesday, February 9. The solo runner was George R. Thomas, 63 years of age. Thomas lost his left big toe nail and had to quit at 53 kms. However, he ran on covering the cities and skipping the route between cities. The front of his left shoe turned pink with blood. But the poor man kept going and going. Although the injured toe did not allow him to make a continuous route, every major spot except Kottiyam, Paranthal and Attingal was covered. He ran through Thiruvananthapuram and was received at 7:15 pm at Gandhi Park just before the closing ceremony.

The public response was the best part of the run. Both the students and the old man were cheered on. Fourteen thousand brochures of the awareness campaign to stop the burning of leaves and rubbish were distributed over the course of the run!

The closing ceremony was inaugurated by the Honorable Minister of Forest, Shri. Binoy Viswam. He reminded the audience that there is a limit to the patience of even Mother Earth and that the limit may be near! He said that the difficult run by an old man must be taken very seriously by all. He rallied the crowd to support the EcoRun India effort and honored our founder through his kind words. Images from the event are in our gallery.

Sponsors:

Kerala Sports Council
Residents Association Apex Council
Kerala Tourism