Bengaluru, 26 April 2025: A strong line-up of Indian Elite athletes will take to the start line on Sunday for the 17th edition TCS World 10K Bengaluru. With a total prize pool of USD 210,000, the Indian winners are set to take home INR 2,75,000 each, while a bonus of INR 1,00,000 is on offer for athletes who break the existing event records at this World Athletics Gold Label Race.
Nearly 35,000 participants will take part in the event, leaving the city buzzing in anticipation. Extending their support, esteemed guests will include Thawar Chand Gehlot Governor of Karnataka), Dr. G Parameshwara ( Home Minister & Chairman, KAA), Dinesh Gundu Rao ( Minister for Health & Family Welfare), NA Harris (MLA, Shantinagar Constituency), Tushar Giri Nath (Commissioner, BBMP), Rizwan Arshad (MLA, Shivajinagar Constituency) and Major Gen. VT Matthew (GOC, K&K Sub Area). Embracing the spirit of the event, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and Randeep D (Secretary, DYES) will lace up and join the runners on Sunday.
The World 10K Women’s race will kick off at 5:30 AM, followed by the World 10K Men’s race at 6:08 AM and the Open 10K at 6:10 AM. Later in the morning, the Champions with Disability Run (3 km) will begin at 8:00 AM, the Senior Citizen Run (3 km) at 8:05 AM, and the Majja Run (approximately 4.2 km) at 8:30 AM.
Early start at TCS World 10K Bengaluru sets the stage for a fast race for the Defending champions Kiran Matre and Sanjivani Jadhav
Matre, who clocked 29:32 last year (his personal best at the time) to register the men’s event record, said, “It’s going to be a tough race this time, but I feel we will see a new event record. The weather definitely makes a difference; it will be cooler so it should help us put in a better performance.”
The 23-year-old comes into the contest after clinching a bronze medal at the recently concluded Federation Cup 2025 in Kochi, clocking 29:47.62. He will face stiff competition from the likes of Sawan Barwal and Abhishek Pal, who secured the first and second place respectively at the Federation Cup to book their spots for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championships. Barwal clocked an impressive 28:57.13 while Pal finished with 29:14.86.
Speaking about the level of competition, Matre said, “There is definitely pressure with guys like Abhishek and Sawan running but I think it will help our time significantly. I’m keen on giving them a strong fight.”
Sawan Barwal enters the race in red-hot form, having bagged gold medals in both the 5000m and 10,000m at the Federation Cup, setting meet records in both domains. “I have been practicing very hard, and my coaches and team have helped me get quicker and stay injury-free. I’m looking for a personal best and we will try to break the event record,” he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Abhishek Pal, who won the TCS World 10K Bengaluru in 2022, expressed confidence in his preparations. “I have been training in Kenya so I am quite used to the incline variation in the course. The last time I won was with a time of 30:05, but we should be able to beat that. Before, we used to run just to win, but with this line-up, I think we can push to break the event record,” Pal said.
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Sanjivani Jadhav, the reigning women’s champion with a winning time of 34:02 last year, also holds the women’s event record of 33:38 Fresh off a gold medal in the Federation Cup 10,000m earlier this week, where she clocked 33:44.43 to qualify for the Asian Athletics Championships, Sanjivani sounded confident ahead of Sunday’s race.
“Practice has been going very well. I’ve had the National Games, Federation Cup, and TCS World 10K as my targets to set myself up for the Asian Athletics Championship,” she said.
“It’s about continuous training. I am sure I will go on to do well this year. My strategy is simple, but I do want to break my own personal best. Last year, I wanted to go for it, but it was very hot and I slowed down in the final few kilometers,” she added.
Phoolan Pal, who will feature in the women’s race for the second time in her career, is the sister of Abhishek Pal. She said, “I think it will be very competitive. Besides Sanjivani, there are a lot of promising runners on Sunday.’ She added, ‘We’re all excited at home for the race, and I’m sure our family will be tuning in to cheer us on.”
