Bangalore:
Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri will be running in the TCS World 10K Race for a charitable cause.
"I am going to run smooth like I do while jogging. I don't want to chase anyone because I am doing it for a cause," he told reporters after unveiling the latest edition of Nike's "Finisher Tee" here.
Chhetri, who is currently playing for Churchill Brothers in the I-League on loan from Sporting Clube de Portugal, said he would take the Race easy and not strain his body.
"I am running for a very good cause. It is a big event, I will try my self. I am not going to go crazy and disturb any body part of mine. I will take it easy. I want to see how much can I do it," he said.
Chhetri, who made his debut for the India national team in the 2004 SAF Games in Pakistan, said he would invite the Indian team to participate in the race.
"Footballers run ten kilometres in a match but it is different from running in a race. At the end of the day no matter how easy I am going to take I want to check my stamina," he said.
The Race is scheduled for May 19 and many foreign athletes among the projected 23,000 runners are participating in the event.
A couple of newly crowned World Cross Country champions, Japhet Korir among men and double World Cross Country champion Emily Chebet on the women's side will lead the field at Sree Kanteerava Stadium's start-line.
Defending champion Helah Kiprop of Kenya and the course record holder Yimer Wude Ayalew will fight it out in the women's category.
Also Kenya's Valentine Kipketer, who demolished the field while lowering the course record by two and a half minutes and winning the 2013 Mumbai Marathon, will be competing.
Korir will compete with fellow-Kenyans Moses Masai, Daniel Salel, Silas Kipruto, Nicholas Kipkemboi and rising Ethiopian star Brihanu Legese, to name a few.
