India's IT giant and the title sponsor for New York City Marathon, TCS has vowed to make the world's premier long-distance athletic event the most advanced race using its core technology skills.
"We will make this the most technologically advanced marathon in the years to come. "It is a great privilege for TCS to partner with the city for the marathon," Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD of TCS said yesterday, adding that partnering for the race was a "first of its kind" experience for TCS.
The 26.2 mile (36.16 kilometres) running event, which is now officially called "TCS New York City Marathon", channelised through the city's five boroughs and witnessed over 50,000 runners.
Kenyans emerged winners of the men's and women's title. As hundreds of thousands lined the route to cheer the participants, millions watched the event on Televisions. Tata Consultancy Services went on a massive image-building exercise yesterday as it flooded the metropolis with tens of thousands of its logo.
Chandrasekaran said the technology shift that the world is seeing today is one of its kind and there is a huge opportunity to aspire and imagine what the future can be because of these technologies.
"From the society perspective, whether it is running or education, so many things can happen because of the technology," he said.
Chandrasekaran said TCS also aspires to make the marathon a more technology-enriched and socially engaged experience for all its participants and fans across the world, using its core technology skills.
Kenya's Wilson Kipsang, who previously won marathon titles in Berlin, London and New York, emerged the winner in the men's category, finishing the marathon in two hours and 10 minutes.
Mary Keitany, who returned to running in a marathon after giving birth to her second child, won in the women's category. She won in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 7 seconds - three seconds ahead of her closest competitor Jemima Sumgong and recorded closest finish in the history of the women's race.
The exhibit featured touchscreen technology from TCS and allowed marathoners, spectators and running fans to journey through the five boroughs and head through the finish line arches to receive a commemorative prize.
The TCS New York City Marathon is part of the World Marathon Majors, an alliance of the world's six most important marathons, that each year determines the world's top male and female marathoner.
TCS previously developed mobile apps for the last year's marathon, helping participants to track runners and to receive race results, information on the event, and tips for training.
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