CHENNAI: Taking inspiration from the popular cycle race — Tour de France, and hoping to take it up to that level someday, The Rotary Club of Madras Midtown is all set to conduct Tour de Rotary. The fourth edition of the cycle rally which will be held over this weekend, like its previous editions, will be conducted for a good cause — this time for cancer care.
“The first rally was flagged off in 2015 and our cause then was polio care. We organised it in a hur ry and got around 250 participants and it was a success,” recalls M Ambalavanan, former president, Rotary Club of Madras Midtown. Following its first flag off, Tour de Rotary was conducted the second time with paediatric cancer care as the cause, where more than 850 people participated. “The previous edition was the biggest yet...we did a 4,000 km tour from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” adds Usha Kumar, president, Rotary Club of Madras Midtown. Around 10,000 cyclists participated in the tour that spanned 33 days and raised up to $50,000 for the cause.
“Swachch Bharat was one of our missions and we even went to different schools with the Swachh Bharat pledge,” adds Ambalavanan. The upcoming edition will have three categories — 100 km, 50 km and 10 km and will be flagged off from Phoenix MarketCity. The rally, which promotes a healthy lifestyle and fitness, will also see participation by 150 NCC candidates. “Cycling is one of the best ways to stay fit and it reduces the pollution caused by other motor vehicles. So we are trying to promote that as well,” says Ambalavanan.
The event will be flagged off by R Srinivasan, Rotary Governor, district 3232, and also include fun activities at the venue, including Zumba and cross fit training. “We are expecting close to 800 people, and want to encourage more Chennaiites to try it out. We usually have a diverse age group ranging from 13 to 67, so we are hoping the same this time,” shares Usha.
Tour de Rotary is on Feb 4. The long distance rally will be flagged off at 5.30 am and the short distance at 6.30 am at Phoenix MarketCity. To register log on to in.explara.com