Run for charity a roaring success after celebrated Nihar Roy joins participants

Kolkata: The participants in this year's Route 55 had a memorable experience as they ran alongside — Nihar Ray — the only Bengali who has the rare distinction of having completed marathons in all

seven continents.

Ray has flown in from San Diego, USA, to join the 2018 edition of Route 55 – a bus route he used to take many decades ago. Around 200 participants took part in the sixth edition of the 10 KM stretch walk/ run from Metro Cinema, hall in Esplanade and ended on the IIEST Shibpur campus to raise funds for better healthcare of the needy and deprived.

Route 55 is an annual event that aims to inspire everyone to give back while having fun.

A donation based run/walk, Route 55 memorialises the road taken by bus #55, a key transport medium for those traveling between Howrah and Kolkata. It was first started in 2013 by ten former IIEST students to motivate folks to achieve personal fitness goals; and give back to society. Route 55 is open to everyone; the only pre-requisite to participate is a donation of USD 55/INR 3,500 directly to Shramajibi Hospital, Howrah.

The Route 55 team has collaborated with Shramajabi since 2014 and been instrumental in developing Hooghly district's first blood bank at Shramajibi Hospital. A portion of the donation has been used to provide discounted healthcare access cards to the drivers and conductors of the bus route.

Route 55 is possibly the only event in the city that is entirely volunteer-driven and without any big name sponsors or commercial support.

The organisers rely on social media and word of mouth to spread this message of giving back.