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Photos: Murali kumar K.

SPORTY SPIRIT People from all over the country and a few international participants did run, despite all the glitches

When Mumbai and Delhi can conduct marathons with ease, Bangalore too can. That is however possible only with involvement from all quarters. And that was sorely missing in the recent Bangalore International Marathon here.

Bangalore has been hosting marathons for the last three years. Event managers, Crossover, first conducted the Lipton Marathon, a second with a publishing house, and then there was the midnight marathon earlier this year.

All these had their share of glitches. With the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) not “sanctioning” the Crossover events, the race did lose its steam, and with it, the glamour, as many Indian marathoners were under threat of being suspended or facing the ire of the parent body.

But it needs to be mentioned here that on these occasions it was Indians — K. Ramu and K.M. Chinnappa — who claimed the top honours in the men’s full marathon.

With the money that the organisers could pitch in, there was just a sprinkling of international flavour.

The Karnataka Athletic Association (KAA), the organisers of the event this time around, made frantic efforts to rope in the best of the talent. KAA secretary Satyanarayana travelled to Pune, to sign up a few big names after the Pune International Marathon a fortnight ago.

Kenyans and Ethiopians arrived here and expectedly stole the show.

But the run was mired in controversies. The demarcation of the route was poor and at many important junctions, too narrow for the runners to traverse shoulder-to-shoulder. If that was not bad enough, the support staff was largely inadequate and the cops manning the junctions were at times over-enthusiastic. At Ulsoor Lake and Cubbon Park, the traffic caused anxiety to participants while near Kalyan Nagar, halfway through the event, a stray dog chased a Kenyan runner. There was also a lack of crowd participation, and the impatience and blaring horns from commuters on the road when lanes were ‘blocked’ for the runners did not bode well for the event.

On a chilly Sunday morning, many preferred the cosy environs of their homes and did not step onto the road to cheer the runners. Surely, Bangloreans with a fad for health and fitness can do a lot more to make such events a memorable one. If crowded Mumbai and Delhi can bring traffic to a halt on the stretch of the marathon route, Banglore too can…but then there should be a will to do it.

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