RUNNERS FACE HURDLES ON THEIR WAY TO FINISHING LINE, SLAM ORGANISERS

The participants of Mumbai Marathon slammed the organisers for confusions on entry/exit gates and improper arrangements of the respective counters on Sunday. The runners also faced problems including clashing with regular runners and the hindrance faced due to metro construction work.

There were more than 44,000 participants in the Mumbai Marathon this year. Little did anyone know, that this could pose as a problem for the runners.

A 64-year-old Dattatray Satpute who was running the marathon for the ninth time expressed his displeasure as there were many regular runners who were brushing against each other.

“The arrangement made by the organisers was not up to the mark. The large number of participants caused much chaos which made it difficult to run with ease. Also, there were no separate arrangements made for the senior citizens,” added Satpute.

The women’s winner, Amane Gobena of Ethiopia, said she faced difficulty in receiving water at the counters and face obstructions as there were several corners due to Mumbai Metro-3 line construction work.

40-year-old Rishikesh Wakatkar who ran the marathon for the second time said that the arrangements made by the organisers weren’t any better this year around. “There was difficulty in locating the counters where medals were distributed to the winners,” added Wakatkar.

The hot temperature during the marathon made a huge impact not only on the overall event but also on the performance of the runners. Deepak Kumbhar (32), who had bagged the first place in the previous edition of the marathon was pushed down to the third position this year. He cited the hot temperature as the reason which compelled him to slow down at various points during his race.

He said, "I have been participating in this event for last five years now and this is the first time that I have stood third in half marathon. I practice for nearly six hours on a daily basis for such races and that is the reason I have stood first mostly. But this year, I guess it was too hot which slowed my pace. At a point, I was breathless but somehow managed to bag the third place."

There were also few participants, who thought it was a waste of time and money for them to travel all the way from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir to attend only this event. Kiran Makwana, an army man posted in Srinagar had come along with his battalion to participate in the marathon and after completing his race, he got the shock of his life to learn that the organisers do not have the exact time within which he completed the race.

He said, "After completing the race, we did not receive any official message from the organisers, so we enquired from them and learnt that our registration numbers had gone missing. Now, the organisers say it will take atleast a day or two for them to ascertain the exact timing within which they completed the race."