Rickshaw Run heading from Shillong to Goa

The adventurists have struck the right notes to flag off the rickshaw run spring 2009 and over 110 participants in around 47 teams have left Shillong for Goa on 12th April as part of an exciting adventure that thrills while helping charities.

So there are people from all over the globe who have landed in Shillong to take part in this thrill of adventurism for a good cause. Different nationalities have therefore converged and different professions have mingled to seek adventure out of this novel venture from the adventurists.

This is however the first time that the rickshaw run is taking the route from Shillong to the destination of Goa where sun sea and sand abound.The whole trip aims to raise funds for charity work and also for adventurism.

In shillong the spring edition of the Rickshaw run was flagged off  at the state central Library by the Governor of Meghalaya , R S Mooshahary who wished the galaxy of teams lined up a great adventure and also hoped that such ventures would put Shillong on the world map of tourism.

The adventurists have been part of such runs all over the world , with British adventurist Mr Tom Morgan having kicked off the venture in 2004 with only six teams taking part in the first car rally which took off from London to Mongolia.

Morgan saw a combination of risk in the journey from London to Mongolia, while generating funds for charity organisations.

The second adventure rally with small cars was from Kochi to Darjeeling in January 2007 which encompassed  a distance of around 3,500 kms.

The rickshaw run participants travelling from Shillong to Goa are expected to cover a distance of 3000 kms between the two locations within two to three weeks in the spring edition of auto rickshaw run , informed the organiser of the rally Mr Daniel Wedgwood from England.

However only the teams which can raise at least one thousand pound in their home towns can take part in the run and the same amount is expected to be spent on charities of children In India.

A part of the amount is also expected to fund the FRANK water project an organisation based in UK .FRANK funds sustainable projects that provide clean, safe drinking water by installing the world's most effective water filtering process built into a community-owned and run facilities.

The rickshaw run is an adventure of absolute fun for the participants and the organizers are hoping to raise around 60 thousand pounds( Rupees 40 lakhs) through this adventure trip.

On the flip side, the various participating teams are expected to manage their entire expenses of the trip including food accomodation or overnight boarding. So this time around the 110 participants hail from countries such as UK, USA, New Zealand, Finland , Australia, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and Belgium and constitute a total of 47 teams in the fray.

People and professionals from different countries converge at this event and the adventurists who take part in the auto rickshaw run range from lawyers, doctors, teachers and media persons among others. A few women are also included in the team.

Helping the poor and the needy has been one for the motivating factors for most of the adventurists taking part in the run who find that the mix of adventure and charity is too good a combination to miss.

The organisers chose the auto rickshaws for India as they felt that this mode of motoring suited Indian roads, besides the auto rickshaws being a very common sight in this part of the world.