6,000-Strong Participation for GTECH Marathon on Sunday

‘No to Drugs’ and ‘Yes to Fitness’ the underlying message of the event

Kochi / February 9, 2024

Kochi, Feb 9: Over 6,000 runners, including 2,000 women and children, will participate in the second edition of the GTECH marathon, which will kick off here on February 11 (Sunday) in three categories – 21 km, 10 km and 3 km, aimed to create awareness of the scourge of drug abuse in Kerala. 

The highlight of the event will be the guided and closely monitored participation of differently abled youngsters who are autistic, visually challenged and physically handicapped.

Hailed as one of the biggest marathons ever held in Kerala, the event, organised by the IT community of the state, will witness participation of IT professionals, students of the leading colleges, Central & state government employees, defence personnel, and corporate members.

The start point of all categories of runs will be from Sanskara School situated in Phase 2 Infopark at Kakkanad. The different categories of run will have different start times, with the 21 km starting first at 4.30 a.m. All runners will have a warm-up session through a 30-minute Zumba dance.

Sports Minister Shri V. Abdurahiman will present awards to the winners. Mr Hibi Eden, MP; Mrs Uma Thomas, MLA; Dr V P Gangadharan, a leading oncologist; cine actors Indrajith Sukumaran and Aparna Balamurali will be present on the occasion.

“Kerala has witnessed an alarming four-fold increase in drug-related cases in the last few years. This is causing unimaginable damage to the society and it is important that like-minded and responsible people come out in unison with a loud message of ‘No to Drugs’ and ‘Yes to Fitness’,” said Mr V K Mathews, Chairman of GTECH, the industry body of leading IT companies in the state.

“It is wonderful to see more than 7,000 registrations for this important social cause. We need to convert campaigns like this into a mass public movement to make Kerala drugs- free,” he stressed.

On February 4, Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan unveiled the logo of the GTECH marathon in the presence of Infosys Co-founder SD Shibulal and Mr Mathews, who is also Founder and Executive Chairman of IBS Software. 

The Group of Technology Companies (GTECH has around 250 companies as its members comprising 80 per cent of the IT employees in the state. All major companies – TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, IBS Software, Tata Elxsi, Quest, Allianz, UST, and EY – as well as medium and small companies across Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, Infopark in Kochi, and Cyberpark in Kozhikode form part of GTECH. 

ENDS