Chamundi Run-2022 a road race organised by a group of physical education teachers in the city on Sunday saw over 1,300 children drawn from across the district taking part in it.
Physical education teachers who have formed Palace Sports Club conducted the race and the rural students walked away with bulk of the prize.
Prakash, club secretary, said they are a group of 25 teachers who are promoting sports and other physical activities among schoolchildren. It is in this connection that the road race was organized.
It was conducted for boys and girls in the under-14 and under-16 categories and entailed running from Sri Ramakrishna Circle to Netaji Circle and back for the 2 km race in the U-14 participants. The U-16 participants had to race from Sri Ramakrishna Circle to Aditya Circle and back.
Mr. Prakash said the total cash prize was Rs. 24,000 and students of Kurubur in T. Narsipur taluk alone walked away with Rs. 12,000. The rest was shared by winners from other centres. ‘’But what is perturbing is that there is a lukewarm response to sporting activities by students in urban areas and it was evident in the number of participants and the final results,” he added.
The physical education teachers also conduct summer camps every year to encourage children to play games and also to identify fresh talent. But students in urban areas tend to be focused on attending to tuitions after class hours and seldom take to sports, said the organizers.
The Palace Sports Club has been conducting such events for the last nine years. There was a break for two years due to the pandemic. In addition, about 150 students are deployed by the club in the Clean Mysuru campaign for 15 days every year.
