Colombo Marathon bursts its borders

Race organizers crack their brains to make ends meet as more runners jostle against a possible confrontation:

by Callistus Davy

It was once a marathon race designed for amateurs looking to test their stamina at long distance running and grab a piece of social history, but the Colombo Marathon is now threatening to give organizers a headache if not a nightmare 14 years down the road.

With nearly 7000 marathoners of all shapes and sizes, some from as many as 38 countries, lined up, the fear is that unless a lifeline is thrown to bail out organizers, a disaster could be waiting to happen.

"There is no looking back, this race is growing and growing and now we have more than 6500 contesting. We have to meet this demand", said chief race organizer Thilak Weerasinghe, a former windsurfer who does not have it plain sailing anymore as the numbers are expected to grow up to 20,000 runners over the next five years.

The Colombo Marathon may not be anywhere near the magnitude of a monumental phenomenon that is the London or Boston marathons, but Weerasinghe and his company called Lanka Sportreizen are not willing to let go of a race that few wanted in 2001 when it commenced but now snowballing into an Asiatic showpiece.

To work the Colombo Marathon according to envisaged plans in keeping with the logistics of the number of current runners in the fray, as many as 20,000 bottles of drinking water is needed and if medical teams cannot be stationed along the 42-kilo metre route, each within a one kilo metre distance, the chances are that the Colombo Marathon will turn into an unmanageable monster given an over-the-moon feeling that organizers now have following its recognition by the world athletics body, IAAF.

"This marathon is so important for Sri Lanka to be showcased to the world if you look at the number of foreigners in the running. We now have world recognition, need sponsors, government support and the health ministry to play a part", Weerasinghe pleaded.

At last year's Colombo Marathon a small team of Navy officers took care of medical needs of the runners but now organizers are contemplating not just roadside attention but paramedics in choppers flying overhead to match the Bangkok and Singapore events in the foreseeable future. To conduct this year's Colombo Marathon as much as Rs.23 million is needed as operational costs alone and Sportreizen's partner SriLankan Airlines too is concerned the race could overshoot its demands as they cash in to boost tourism through the run.

Currently the only aspect that the Colombo Marathon can boast of, apart from the numbers and foreigners, is that all participants will have to undergo medical tests and come under the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) code where runners have to sign a declaration to be tested for drug use.

The Sri Lanka Athletics Association too has chipped in to play its part offering technical assistance and ensuring runners adhere to the athletes' code in keeping with international requirements.

But Weerasinghe claims Sri Lanka athletic administrators are also benefitting from the Colombo Marathon that helps to bring out long distance runners for the country which is yet to make a mark on the international stage.

"The Colombo Marathon is a good platform for our own athletes to run alongside the best runners in the world. We have reached a level where we just have to make the event professional", said Weerasinghe.

As many as 16 runners from Kenya which is a world leader in marathon running, have sent in applications to contest and organizers are also looking into the possibility of enticing a 25-year old Sri Lankan woman residing in the USA, Hiruni Wijeratne, to run in next year's Colombo Marathon.

They say she's got the makings of an international front-runner.