Bhubaneswar: More than one lakh people across the world participated in the KIIT and KISS Mini Marathon organised on Sunday.
The event, held after two years, was special this year as it coincided with silver jubilee celebrations of the institute. The Mini Marathon was organised in 25 cities across India, several countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cameroon, Kenya and Zimbabwe, as well as 35 towns in Odisha.
The main event was held at Bhubaneswar, where KIIT and KISS Founder Dr Achyuta Samanta flagged off the mini marathon at 6 am in the presence of actors Rahul Bose, Sabyasachi Mishra, Archita Sahu along with Bhubaneswar (North) MLA Susanta Rout, DIG SIW Anirudh Singh, athletes Dutee Chand Amiya Mallick, Anuradha Biswal and Rugby Association President Priyadarshi Mishra.
Senior KIIT functionaries, including Vice-Chancellor Sasmita Samanta, were also present, while Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das joined the concluding function.
Around 20,000 enthusiastic students and people from all walks of life participated in the race covering a distance of 6.5 km from Xavier Square to KIIT cricket stadium.
The objective of the mini marathon was to create awareness about ‘Education for All’.
A large number of people also took part in 35 towns across Odisha and other countries.