Alghanin Industries employees at the marathon.

KUWAIT: More than 400 employees from Alghanim Industries, one of the largest privately owned companies in the region, participated in the fifth edition of the Gulf Bank 642 Marathon.

The event, which was held over the past weekend, saw attendance of more than 7,500 participants from 68 countries, who participated in the race's four different categories. For this edition of the 642 Marathon, Gulf Bank collaborated with the Kuwait Red Crescent Society to bring medical aid to those who are unable to afford medical treatment. All donations made from the marathon registration fees will go towards the provision of medical devices such as pacemakers, cochlear devices, hearing aids, electric wheelchairs and stents. Alghanim Industries covered the registration fees of all its participants as part of its commitment to engage with employees in activities that promote health and wellbeing.

Commenting on the company's participation in the event, Chief Human Resources Officer at Alghanim Industries, Henning Schlutt, said: "We are happy to partner with different organizations around the year to promote the health and wellbeing of our employees. Our company promotes a healthy lifestyle, and we always encourage our employees to participate in such events and engage with one another. We are also very honored to contribute through our participation in this event to the activities of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, with whom we have a long-standing partnership to help the underprivileged."

The event kicked off on Saturday morning from Souq Sharq, and included four different categories, at different difficulty levels, for those looking to run or walk. The categories were: 5km family fun run for beginners; a 10km for amateur runners, an advanced 21km half marathon, and the 42km full marathon.

Alghanim Industries regularly holds employee engagement activities, ranging from awareness to networking events. These include blood drives in collaboration with the Kuwait Central Blood Bank (KCBB), breast cancer awareness campaigns in collaboration with different entities, in addition to charity runs and marathons, in which the company funds the registration fees for employees interested in participating.