7500 for Colombo Marathon on October 2
Returning for a 16th year the LSR Colombo Marathon will take place on October 2, with organizers expecting more than 7,500 participants at this year’s event.
The race will begin at Independence Square and will end at the Negombo Beach Park, as it has in the last few years, but will likely be moved to within the Colombo city limits from next year.
“We are expecting over 10,000 participants over the next few years, and this will cause a logistical issue in that all the athletes cannot be accommodated on the Negombo road, This is why we are looking at moving it into the Colombo City limits. We had finalised plans to move this year’s race to Colombo, with the support of the Western Provincial Council and the Police. Unfortunately we could not get the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) officials to inspect the course and measure the distance of the various race categories, so we decided to stick to the same route as last year for this edition. We are hopeful of sorting out arrangements to move the race to Colombo from next year,” Chairman of LSR Thilak Weerasinghe said yesterday. “I’m sure with this move we can increase the number of participants over next ten years to around 20,000.”
AIMS works with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and overlooks and ratifies distance races and marathons worldwide.
More than 160 athletes from 24 countries have already registered for this year’s race, and Weerasinghe believes that an increase in the number of foreign participants would also have a knock on effect on the tourism industry as athletes usually spend a short holiday in the island after the race.
Organised by Lanka Sportsreizen the annual event, which began in 1998, has found a long-standing partner in Srilankan Airlines, who have supported it since its inception. And Srilankan CEO Captain Suren Ratwatte said the marathon had grown into a catalyst for increasing tourism in the country.
“If we are to grow the tourism industry we need events, and sporting events in particular are a huge market segment today. So what the Colombo Marathon does is really important. Any major city has a marathon, which is a major event in their calendar. Hopefully from next year we will have it as a proper city marathon, in Colombo, and it will be a magnet for distance runners from around the world,” Captain Ratwatte said.
Last year’s edition saw over 6,400 participants, including over 200 foreigners representing 39 countries. The men’s full marathon was won by Kenyan Anthony Mugo, while Sri Lanka’s B.G.L.A. Bogahawaththa won the women’s event.
The marathon will conducted in several categories -- full and half marathon for men and women, veteran full and half marathon for men and women, 10 km and 5 km fun run for men and women, and school fun run of 5 km for boys and girls. The winners of the main men’s and women’s full marathon will receive prize money of USD 2,500 each.
Registration for the marathon will be on October 1, the day before the event, and those interested in participating can visit http://colombomarathon.com/ cm_2015/registration.