What 17 ‘first time’ runners from Just In Time Group learnt from taking part in LSR Colombo Marathon

Physical training at Just In Time Group started with the objective of getting its staff off their feet and to be stronger, healthier and fitter. When you train your body, your mind automatically adjusts to perform better at every aspect of your life and this was the objective for commencing physical training at Just In Time Group.  

The LSR Colombo Marathon was never a goal; it was indeed a daunting task for people who have taken up running relatively recently however, they took on the challenge with gusto. At the start, there were only five people in the running team, by August they had a team of 17 – passionate and ready to push past their limits and comfort zone into the unknown. 

This year Just In Time Group celebrates a ‘20 year’ milestone of successful operations. They are a wholly Sri Lankan company and are proud to have paved the way for landmark ICT projects in the country. With this as their foundation, taking part in this year’s LSR Colombo Marathon was another great way to take their endurance and strength from the office to the road and celebrate this milestone.

JIT Group Marathon Team 2016

For this year’s LSR Colombo Marathon from the team of 17, they took part in the 5 km, 10 km and one inspirational team member took on the 21 km – the half marathon. 

For Dulip a senior Application Support Engineer who completed the 5 km, taking part in the marathon was a dream. “A dream I never thought I would accomplish. But the body achieves what the mind believes, I can testify to this,” he said. 

Piumika Ranasinghe – Head of Sales competed in the half Marathon. “I took part to prove that I can do things that felt impossible and things I disliked. I didn’t like running long distance, but I proved myself wrong and was also lucky to be surrounded by a great team,” she said.

Suvini Karunarathne, Legal Officer and Ruwan Ranasinghe, Application Support Engineer both ran the 10 km. “In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can, Marathon is a race that imparts how far we believe in ourselves,” was shared by Ruwan.

“If you complete a marathon once, there will be a lot of self-confidence like never before,” commented Suvini.   

The trainer, the motivator, the guru!

Dillon Fox was the instigator and encourager of making the Just In Time Group Marathon dream happen. Growing up rugby was his passion and a talent. He captained the rugby team of his alma mater and since then health and fitness became a way of life. 

“What I believe is most people have the potential to archive what they want by themselves. However sometimes people are afraid to step out of their comfort zones, because for them that is the safest place; as a trainer my job is to push people physically but also push them mentality, giving them the confidence that you can achieve it all. You just have to give it a shot,” states Dillon – the Assistant Manager HR who is also the trainer for the Marathon team.

Our team was formed with great enthusiasm and none of whom have ever run a marathon before which was the most inspiring part. Why inspiring? Because it takes more than physical strength to take part – inner strength was the key element. We trained with passion, team work and had a lot of fun doing so which made the difference. We are serial runners now and even more passionate for next year’s Marathon. The youngest runner in our team was 21 and the oldest was 55! Through this Marathon, we have inspired more of our colleagues to take part in next year’s Colombo Marathon which is icing on the cake!  

Just In Time Group a wholly Sri Lankan company has been a key partner and implementer of several cutting edge mission critical ICT solutions in the country over the last two decades. With the dawn of 2016, Just In Time Group completed a two decade (20 years) mammoth journey in the ICT arena of Sri Lanka. This growth throughout the years is a vital milestone with their longstanding strategic partnerships with principals, customers and employees.