Sachin Tendulkar said that he is not surprised to see the enthusiasm of the huge crowds in the Run Kerala Run mass event held this morning across the State as a precursor to the 35th National Games.
Brand ambassador for the Games, the cricketing legend led the mass run held in the capital city even as similar events were taken out at an estimated 10,000 other centres in the State from 10 am to 11.30 am.
Tendulkar addressed a big crowd assembled at the Central Stadium, a stone’s throw away from where he ended the run, shortened due to security reasons.
In his address, he said that the sport-loving state has always had a special place in his heart, and thanked people for the love and affection showered on him. As a sportsperson himself, running is very important to him in order to keep himself fit and healthy.
Run Kerala Run is a fantastic initiative in so far as sending the right message to everyone on the needs for being fit and healthy. Everyone can hope to be so by merely making certain adjustments to the lifestyle, he said.
Appreciating the goodwill and enthusiasm of the crowd, Tendulkar said he was confident that the people of Kerala would extend the same level of support to the 35th National Games.
He could learn it for himself in the way the Kerala Blasters football team that he co-owns has come to be accepted in its hometown Kochi and elsewhere in the State.
This is something each member of the team would confide to him, Tendulkar said. When sportsmen go out and play, they feel energised when they discern this level of support that makes them bring out only their very best.
“Please go out and enjoy yourself during the National Games that kick off in 10 days, and give it all you can,” Tendulkar told the roaring crowd.
He also obliged the master of ceremonies by turning back on the dias and shooting a ‘selfie of a lifetime with Sachin Tendulkar’ for the crowd that filled in the background.