India's medal winning athletes to be part of the Salwan Cross Country Run

Khushbir Kaur

New Delhi, October 16, 2014: Celebrated Indian athletes Khushbir Kaur, Mandeep Jangra and Arpinder Singh will be seen running as volunteers along with Visually Challenged school children at the 20th edition of the Salwan Cross Country Run being organized on 2nd November at the Army Equestrian Centre, Brar Square, Delhi Cantt. All the three athletes have had the distinction of representing India and winning laurels for the country at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and are under the aegis of Anglian Medal Hunt Company. This year’s edition of the Salwan Cross Country Run would witness participation by more than 2000 visually impaired and differently-abled school children, all of whom would be running with a volunteer to aid the strenuous 4.5 kilometre long and challenging track.

Khushbir Kaur became the first Indian woman to clinch a 20 km Race Walk silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon by bettering her personal best and setting a new national record in the process. Mandeep Jangra, a fresh young boxer who has tremendous potential to achieve greatness, has represented India at various global boxing events. Mandeep won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Arpinder Singh is a young triple jumper from Amritsar who has been making fast progress and recently made the country proud by winning a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Presently ranked no 1 in Asia, he is the current national record holder in triple jump.

Apart from running alongside visually impaired children, Khushbir Kaur, Mandeep Jangra and Arpinder Singh would also promote and emphasize upon the tenets of Salwan Cross Country Run – to encourage clean and fair sports at the grassroots level. In this edition of the run, GPS based Chip technology and Multiple Cameras would be used to track the distance and location covered by each participant in the Under-18 boys category to ensure fair play.

The organizers of the run have also initiated a process for short-listing 30 Physical Education Instructors across Schools in Delhi NCR to send them for an on-ground training programme to London and Australia during March 2015. These instructors would learn the Science of Sports Curriculum to be implemented for various age-groups at School level so that talent can be tapped at Grass roots. The programme would also create professional growth opportunities for Physical Instructors, who stagnate in their careers due to the prevalent education system in the country.

Ms. Samrata Diwan, Spokesperson, Salwan Cross Country Run, said, “We are delighted at the athletes being a part of the run. I think it is an eye-opener for all to feel the joy of giving themselves unequivocally for a cause. They have brought glory to the country at some of the biggest sporting events and are great role models, hence it surely will be a memorable experience for both the kids and the volunteers to run alongside and interact, hear each other’s stories of struggle and triumph of the human spirit.”

Started in 1995 on a budget of Rs. 2500/- with 300 students, the race this year will be supported by adequate police security and a large number of volunteers from the sports community and the corporate world who wish to send a clear message to start a sports curriculum in schools across India, create promotional avenues for Physical Instructors and a balanced education system where academics & sports play an equal part.

Students / Institutions can log on to http://salwanmarathon.com for online registration, the last date being 20th October 2014.

Volunteers who wish to run the 4.5 km race with the visually impaired children can log on to http://salwanmarathon.com for details.

About Salwan Cross Country Run:

Salwan Cross Country Run which started as an initiative to bring out the spirit of courage and determination amongst the children and teach them the educational values through sports, has today graduated in terms of participation and initiatives year after year. And, perhaps that could be the reason that today it has over 48,000 students running and yet again confirming it as the world's largest race for school children.

For more information, log on to www.salwanmarathon.com