Inadequate water, congestion on route mars Wipro Bengaluru Marathon

Organisational lapses marred the 13th edition of the Wipro Bengaluru Marathon here on Sunday, with several runners complaining of inadequate water supply and poor crowd management.

Participants said water was unavailable at some stations, while congestion caused by runners from different categories affected the timings.

Organised by NEB Sports, the event attracted around 45,000 participants across four disciplines — Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K and 5K.

Ekta Sirohi, who ran the half-marathon, said, “After around the 10-km mark, there was no water available. All the water stations were empty.”

Another participant said some well-wishers who had gathered along the route came to the runners’ aid by purchasing water bottles from nearby shops and distributing them.

There were also complaints about congestion at around the 18km mark, where runners from the Full Marathon and Half Marathon began to merge with those taking part in the 10K and 5K.

“Many of the 5K runners were walking at this stage. On the other hand, we came in at a good speed and could not get past them,” a half-marathon runner said.

NEB Sports CMD Nagaraj Adiga acknowledged the lapses and said the organisers would take the runners’ feedback into account.

“In keeping with our green principles, we served water in jars and reusable cups, not bottles. There was a delay in refilling these jars in one section of the route,” Adiga told The Hindu.

“We are considering distributing water bottles all along the route from the next edition onwards,” he said.

Adiga added that the organisers were considering holding the 10K and 5K events a day before the Full Marathon and Half Marathon in future. This, he said, would help prevent the different categories from merging on the route.

“We want to ensure that every single participant has a good experience. Our team will analyse all feedback and make the necessary improvements,” Adiga said.

The results (winners): Full marathon: Elite men: Bugatha Srinu (02:22:53). Elite women: Bhagirathi (03:00:18).

Half marathon: Men: Ankit Gupta (01:09:12). Women: Sugandha Sharma (01:34:55).