Vikas Raj, Amitava Mukherjee, and Amit Sinha flagged off the 5K- a Curtain Raiser”

Hyderabad, August 26: The 5K- Curtain Raiser” of the 12^th Edition of NMDC Hyderabad Marathon powered by IDFC FIRST Bank was held at Hitex on Saturday morning. 

It was flagged off jointly by Shri. Vikas Raj, IAS, Chief Electoral Officer; Shri. Amitava Mukherjee, Chairman -Cum-Managing Director (Addl In-charge), NMDC Ltd; Shri. Amit Sinha, Country Head, Branch Banking, IDFC FIRST Bank and Shir. Prashant Morparia, Race Director NMDC Hyderabad Marathon 2023.

Mr. Vinay Kumar, Director Technical, NMDC; Shri B. Vishwanath, Chief Vigilance Officer, NMDC and Mr. Sarfaraz Ahmad, Joint Chief Election Officer also graced the flag off.

Speaking to the 6500 participants, the Chief Electoral Officer, Shri Vikas Raj said the elections are around the corner.  What could be a better way than this to connect to the young and energetic citizens of the city?  Urban energy is the growth engine, he said

Speaking further, the officer added, ‘On our front, we are making every possible effort to increase voting percentage.  It is your responsibility too to go out and vote’.  Participate in elections and electoral processes.  Get yourself enumerated. Motivate others to be part of the democratic process.  There is a huge gap in rural and urban voting percentages.  We must change this.  We must reduce this gap.  Elections are democratic festivals. Participate and set examples for others.  Voting is not only your right but also your responsibility, he told them.

Shri. Amitava Mukherjee, Chairman -Cum-Managing Director (Addl In-charge), NMDC Ltd said NMDC is a patron of the idea that a healthy lifestyle is the foundation of growth and we consciously get associated with events like this in bringing fitness to the fore. He wished all the runners fun, fitness, and health. 

People of all ages, walks, and strata participated in the run.  It was a truly inclusive run in many aspects.  The students of Lekhadeep, Vocational Training Centre for Intellectually Disabled from Hyderabad; representatives of the Fernandez Child Development Centre, a Parent Support Group by Fernandez CDC that is helping to build a community for parents and caregivers of children with special needs, 50 runners from Cardiac Rehab Runners NGO;  Sharada and Srinivas, an elderly couple; Anil Raj Bolledu, a Wheelchair ridden person for the past 30 years,  a retired Air Force officer from Vijayawada, runners supporting Isha Vidhya, runners discouraging people using single-use plastics;  Chetan and Ishwarya a couple with their six months old baby tucked to their body, kids from People with Hearing Impaired Network, blade runners, Gangadhar Pandey founder of Babul NGO that works against the use of single-use of plastics etc and others participated in the run.

Hyderabad Runners Society was founded with the idea of helping people lead active lifestyles and making running a preferred form of fitness activity organized the 5K Run. The society is built on the three pillars of advocacy, training, and events.  It promotes healthy living and community fitness through our unique training programs, partnering with diverse sections of society.  6500 runners are participating in today’s 5K -Curtain Raiser to the 12^th Edition of the NMDC Hyderabad Marathon powered by IDFC FIRST Bank informed Mr Prashant Morparia, Race Director – NMDC Hyderabad Marathon, said,

The main event, the Running Festival will be held tomorrow.  Full and half Marathons will be flagged off at 4.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m. respectively at People’s Plaza, Necklace Road.   The 10K Run will also be flagged for tomorrow at 6.30 AM at Hitex, Madhapur, he added

Prashanth further added ‘this year, we have seen a growth in the number of participants to about 21000 plus, coming from almost 30 states and UTs as well as international participation. Out of this number, 5000 are women.  500 from 14 NGOs are also participating. It is going to be the Green Marathon.  250 volunteers are pressed into the service for the purpose of keeping it green as well as for recycling. 

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