Iim Kozhikode Presents Calicut Mini Marathon ‘10 Sunday, 31st January 2010

Feb. 4, 2010 - PRLog -- The Calicut Mini Marathon, jointly organized by the Social Service Group of IIM Kozhikode, Calicut Management Association and PT Usha School of Athletics, took place on Sunday at the Calicut Beach. The theme of this year’s marathon was ‘Be the Change’. The aim of the marathon was to bring awareness to the youth of the city about the various issues plaguing today’s society and thus sound a clarion call for them to bring in change by being the change themselves. Some of the visiting dignitaries included Mr. KV Thomas, Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr. MK Raghavan, MP, Dr. PB Salim, the Collector of Calicut District, Ms. PT Usha, athlete, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director of IIM Kozhikode, Mr. Jayaram, actor, Mr. Mammukhoya, actor among several other noted personalities.

The marathon brought together over 8500 people in and around Calicut, of who about 6500 participated in the 10km and 3km versions. The 10 km race saw runners aged from 6 to 60, with about 950 men and 125 women vying for the top honors. The milling crowds at the registration desks on the Calicut beach bore testimony to the enthusiasm exhibited by the city’s youth and the young at heart. The men’s mini marathon was flagged off by Mr. Jayaram, Mr. MK Raghavan, Mr. KV Thomas, Prof. Chatterjee and Dr.PB Salim from the start line near the Calicut Government Hospital at about 8 am. Following it, the women’s mini marathon was flagged off by Ms. Usha.

Along with the 10km Mini Marathon, a 3km Celebrity Walk was also organized where the dignitaries walked shoulder to shoulder with students and members from various organizations in the city. The aim of this walk was to exhibit the solidarity of the different groups with the issues closest to their hearts. Students from NIT Calicut, Government Homeo College, Sri Guruvayurappan College, JDT Islam College of Nursing, Devagiri College of Arts and other colleges walked the route carrying banners and placards designed to draw attention to various issues like world peace, saving the environment, etc.

The Men’s 10 km mini marathon was won by Mr. Sandeep Kumar of Railways. Mr. Elam Singh from the army (Uttarkhand) and Mr. M. Borappa came in second and third respectively. The women’s mini marathon was won by Ms. Preeja Sreedharan of Railways with Ms. Kiran Tiwari of Railways and Ms.M Sudha coming second and third respectively. The winners took home a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh while the runners up got Rs. 50000 and the second runners up, Rs. 25000. The prizes were distributed by Dr. Salim to the winners in men’s category and Ms. PT Usha to the women. The prize money was awarded by Mr. Raju Menon of Ipix Solutions. The other runners in the top 20 were also awarded Rs. 2000 each for their efforts. The Calicut Change Trophy for the college with the most enthusiastic participation in terms of enthusiasm and strength went to NIT Calicut. The trophy was awarded by Professor Debashis Chatterjee. He also presented a copy of Beloved City Guardians, a compilation of the social issues voiced by the city’s residents, to Collector Dr. PB Salim and the ACP, Mr. Rajendran.

With the prize distribution ceremony drawing to a close, the Collector gave the vote of thanks to everyone involved in the first edition of the marathon. He lauded the efforts of the students of IIM, the city administration department and the police department without whose help, the event could not have gone well without a glitch. With the event being a huge success, both in terms of the turnout and the enthusiasm displayed in the 10km and 3km runs, the Collector hoped to make the marathon an annual affair. The title sponsor for this year’s event was Ipix Solutions Private Ltd., a subsidiary of the Morrison Menon group in Dubai.

# # #

Starting in 1997 with a batch of 42 students in its Postgraduate Programme (PGP), the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) is on a high growth trajectory today, offering widest range of academic programmes in the field of management education. PGP student's intake for 2009 was 309 students i.e. 5 times in 7 years thus making it the fastest growing management school in the country to reach that landmark. This was done keeping the quality of the programme high, as the Institute continued to maintain its sound placement record, ranking among the top 5 institutes in the country in 2008. IIMK pioneered Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) for working executives in India. The Institute is today leader in Faculty Development Programmes (FDP) and is the major QIP (Quality Improvement Programme) Centre of the All Indian Council of Technical Education, in the field of management education.