In pictures: Kolkata Runners’ special Sashthi run at the Salt Lake Stadium

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RJ Arvind (above) was one of the two guests of honour for the event and praised the “infectious energy” and “amazing discipline” of the participants. He was also the one who flagged off the hour-long run at 6am. Nirmalya Bhattacharya, executive director at Friends of Tribals Society, was the other guest of honour and urged the runners to “retain their sense of togetherness and camaraderie”

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Aahi Ganguly, 11, was the youngest runner on the day and completed her two rounds around the Salt Lake Stadium without much of a hassle. Having already played for East Bengal as a football prodigy, Aahi is “used to running long distances and the saree wasn’t much of a hindrance for me either”

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The father and son duo of Dhananjay Saha, 56, and Angshul Saha, 15, also finished their two rounds well ahead of time and without resorting to gentle walking at any point! “I’ve told him that he can ask for whatever he wants if he beats me in a run. But that hasn’t happened yet, not even today,” chuckled Dhananjay, a veteran runner, who usually prepares for 10km marathons

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“Even though we started so early, it felt like having a sauna bath out there,” admitted Rashmi Gupta (extreme right), 42, who nonetheless described her experience as “mindblowing”. Rarely stopping to pose and click selfies unlike many of her fellow runners, Rashmi added that the “Sashthi spirit gave me the extra dose of energy to complete the run on time”

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For 60-year-old Surendra Khemani, running was out of the question on Saturday, as a recent surgery means that he is advised not to exert himself too much. But the running aficionado still walked the entire distance twice over. And no, he did not do so with the trishul in hand all the way through!

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Almost all the runners completed the two rounds assigned to them, even if quite a few regularly slowed down to walking pace and got lapped. Volunteers with water bottles were placed at regular intervals of the run to assist the participants, and with the sun scorching down, staying hydrated was a must

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Debashis Sen, chairman-cum-manging director of HIDCO, was the chief guest for the occasion and also the judge for the conch-blowing and dhunuchi naachh competitions that got underway following the run and some quick breakfast. “What better way than running to welcome Maa Durga, given all the running all of us will have to do while pandal hopping! I’m amazed to see the enthusiasm and excitement here today. It feels wonderful to meet all of you and be a part of this programme,” said Sen

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With a time of 18.67 seconds, Uma Maity emerged as the winner of the conch-blowing competition, followed by Abhishek Basu (16.52 seconds) and Suman Raina (13.61 seconds). All three were felicitated by Sen and received Amazon vouchers for their efforts

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In the final act of the morning, participants dazzled with various versions of the dhunuchi naachh, but it was Biswajit Maity who most impressed Sen with his acrobatics and got the entire audience grooving to his moves. Roshni Guha Thakurta and Priyanka Gupta finished second and third, respectively, and also earned themselves Amazon vouchers. “Hats off to everyone who made today so special. Last year, we had organised the run near Victoria Memorial and this year it’s got bigger and better here in Salt Lake. I’m sure asche bochhor abar hobe,” said Siddhartha Sengupta, one of the organisers of the event as well as the emcee for the day’s proceedings