Aarti Sreenath By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Ever guessed who actually work behind the scenes for events that involve thousands of citizens? Young collegians who want to gain some work experience, some brownie points and also some do some networking while on the ground. We met a few enthusiastic volunteers who will be working for Airtel Hyderabad Marathon which will take place in the city on August 24 and 25. The volunteers who are gearing up for the big weekend say they are excited. Some of them had volunteered in the previous marathons. Most of the volunteers are students from city engineering and degree colleges. Says Nallamaddi Hemanth Reddy, “Volunteers like me have to report at our respective locations at around 4 am on the event day. We are given our T-shirts and are made to arrange water bottles, energy drinks, biscuits and whatever needs to be distributed to the runners”. Radhika Desai, a CA student says, “As I’ve been volunteering for so many years now, I keep bringing new ideas like offering placards to young kids with words to cheer the older lot”. Nikhil from Tapasya Degree College, a first-time volunteer says, “I came to know about the marathon from Stumagz, an online platform that connects students, faculty and corporates around India, one of the outreach partners of the marathon.” Vishwanath, a B Tech student, says that he is looking forward to volunteering for the first time and is practising innovative methods of cheering the runners. Vinay from VJIT has been volunteering for the last three years and he enjoys doing this work. He says,” We work along with the government and the police department for such events. The NSS wing of our college informed us of the marathon and a handful of us registered for it.” Varun from AHM says, “Colleges and their students get visibility at such events. Babita Rajmohan, Placements Officer of St Mary’s Degree College says, “Our students have been associated with AHM since 2012 and every year we send around 250 student volunteers who are proactive. Our college music band has been performed live to cheer the runners at some of the aid stations entirely manned by the students of St Mary’s College.” Shiv Kosgi, the Operation Manager for Hyderabad Runners, opines, “Marathons provide people with an opportunity to do something beyond their daily routine to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We benefit from the volunteers and they from us. It is a win-win,” he adds. The collegians say they are now warming up to be able and agile to be able to be in their best form for the big weekend.

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