Calicut Half Marathon 2021: Cricketer Robin Uthappa Conferred with IIM Kozhikode National Excellence Award

KOZHIKODE:
Director IIM Kozhikode, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, today bestowed renowned cricketer Mr Robin Uthappa with the IIM Kozhikode National Excellence Award for his remarkable contribution to the field of cricket. This is the 3rd edition of the Award, presented annually to eminent personalities for their contribution to the world of sports, and to commemorate IIMK’s iconic Calicut Half Marathon which is now into its 12th year. The Event, which is going completely virtual for the first time is scheduled for 9th to 11th April, 2021.

The National Excellence award is a replica of IIM Kozhikode’s inspirational mnemonic – the ‘Arise Arjuna’ statue. Presenting the award to “The Walking Assassin” Prof. Chatterjee recounted Uthappa’s immense contribution to the game of Cricket and how he ably carried his team forward by demonstrating resilience, focus and determination – a quality that resonates with the legend of Arjuna. He added that traits Focus, Flexibility and Freedom was the idea behind constituting this National Award.

While felicitating the winner the Director also fondly recalled the iconic moment when Uthappa tipped his cap and saluted the crowd after hitting the stumps in Inbdia’s famous bowl-out win over arch-rivals Pakistan in 2007 T20 World Cup, as one of the most memorable events in the game of cricket. The award was instituted 2 years back, with the first recipient being Paralympian and Arjuna Awardee Dr Deepa Malik. Babita Kumari Phogat, renowned wrestler, also Arjuna Awardee, was conferred with the award last year.

Robin Uthappa expressed his gratitude about his debut and relived the days when he shared the stage with cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virendra Sehwag among other Indian cricket legends. He also shared with the IIMK community the importance of never giving up especially when chips are down and said that one should always have self-belief in taking challenges head-on one step at a time, in order to achieve their goals. A fun round of Q&A after the felicitation added some light hearted moments as he addressed questions posed by the students and faculty members of IIMK community wherein he shared the life lessons that he has learned over his tenure as a sportsman.

Calicut Half Marathon is the largest student-driven marathon organized every year for the past 11 years. The marathon aims in contributing towards different social issues that can bring a phenomenal change when assimilated together. It is this belief that the students of IIM Kozhikode wish to encourage and promote through the marathon.

IIM Kozhikode Calicut Half Marathon in its twelfth edition is bringing the theme ‘Better Together – United Despite Distances’. It is an appreciation for all of us who have successfully supported each other through the COVID-19 pandemic by being helpful, by being kind, by being compassionate, and by Being United. The marathon is going to be organized virtually and the runners can run anytime and anywhere between 9th to 11th April 2021. For registration, please visit www.calicutmarathon.in and https://reg.myraceindia.com/MRTS/chm2021 .