Geetha Patil
NEW ENGLAND: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with other New England partners namely, Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), Indo-American Community, World Hindu Council of America (NE), and Team Aid hosted Marathon for a good cause and it was partnered with the Boston Athletic Association (BAA)
BAA had Boston Marathon to sponsor and enhance the information kiosks and tables frequented by marathon runners and spectators throughout the race on Monday, October 11, 2021. Many TCS and its clients’ employees and the partner organization’s members took active part as runners and hydration station volunteers who distributed energy drinks and waters to the runners of the 125th Boston marathon.
The Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual marathon, runs from Hopkinton, Mass. to Boylston Street in Boston. In 2020, the annual race went virtual race due to the COVID-19 pandemic but before this, it was cancelled. The marathon usually takes place on Patriots’ Day in April, but this year, in its first in-person installment since 2019, it took place on Indigenous People’s Day, the same day as the U.S. holiday, Columbus Day, a day meant to celebrate Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas. Among twenty thousand participants, 18,000 were runners and rest were regular and medical volunteers.
‘BAA required all participants in the 2021 Boston Marathon to be either fully vaccinated or tested negative before the race. As a matter of fact, 93% of the runners were fully vaccinated against COVID and almost all the rest tested negative, CEO of BAA Tom Grilk said.
Tata Consultancy Services is a global leader in IT services, consulting & business solutions with a large network of innovation & delivery center and has been the official technology-consulting partner for the Boston Marathon since 2010. Surya Kant, Chairman, North America, TCS, says, “We sponsor running events across the world because we want to inspire local communities to live healthy and active lifestyles, and because of the obvious parallels between marathons and the growth and transformation journeys that we help our customers undertake. Running a marathon makes you feel that there’s nothing you can’t do. With each step, you’re building on belief.”
Number of TCS employees and other partner organizations’ members gathered at about 7:30 am at the University Drive, Natick MA. Under the guidance of BAA volunteer’s lead and other volunteer’s assistance, they set up the tables and tents and filled thousands of cups with energy drinks and water. They also displayed nicely TCS and organizations banners and Bharatiya and American flags and created a patriotic and pride ambiance. They not only served water and energy drinks but also cheered up the runners by shouting ‘You can do it’, ‘Good Job’, and ‘Keep on running.’ At the end, Kenya runner reigned supreme in Boston Marathon. Kenyans Benson Kipruto and Diana Kipyogei won the men’s, women’s elite categories respectively. In the men’s wheelchair category, Marcel Hug of Switzerland won and Manuela Schär, also of Switzerland, won for the women.
2018 Boston Marathon runner, Abhishek Singh who represented TCS partnership and FIA as President, thanked BAA for giving them an opportunity to work as BAA volunteers and gaining new experience in life. He said that we will surely come back next year to work with BAA.
‘We take pride in being BAA volunteers’ said Deepak Sharma from FIA. He also thanked all the TCS, FIA and Indo-American Community members especially their children namely Om Gautam Patel, Ronav Munjal, Sanju Ajay Palapurthi for volunteering and making the event a great success and cleaning up the roads properly after the event.
In this auspicious Hindu Heritage Month as a call to render service to community ‘I wanted to let you that I enjoyed immensely, volunteering at the B.A.A,’ President of World Hindu Council, New England chapter Kaushik Patel said.
‘It was exciting to be here, and everything went very well. The other volunteers were terrific, and every race competitor was gracious and thanked us for being there,’ Rama Penumathi of Team Aid told the reporter.
