Colombo gears up for marathon

By Madushka Balasuriya

The 15th edition of the Colombo Marathon gets underway tomorrow, with this being its biggest year yet. Medicals are being held throughout the day today at Torrington for over 6,500 contestants from nearly 40 countries. 

In the grand scheme of things that may not be much - the world’s most populous marathon this year, the Berlin Marathon, saw about 80,000 contestants take part - however the Colombo Marathon is still in its infancy and growing steadily.

The course, which begins in Colombo, continues along the western coast and ends in Negombo. Runners have registered for variety of distances: the 5km, 10km, 20km or half marathon and the full marathon, which is a little over 42km.

Under the stewardship of LSR (Lanka Sportreizen) Group and the support of SriLankan Airlines, it has gained both AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Running) and IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) certification. It also has its own spot on the global marathon calendar on the first Sunday of October. However, these facts are relatively unknown to the majority of Sri Lankans.

“A lot of people in this country are not aware of the significance of the marathon here. Internationally when you say that it’s certified by AIMS and IAAF, automatically you have the international and professional runners coming down to take part,” revealed SriLankan Airlines Manager Marketing Pradeep Durairaj, speaking at a press roundtable event organised to create hype for the Colombo Marathon.

AIMS and IAAF certification means that any world records set or broken at the Colombo Marathon are internationally recognised. However, the certification did not come easy: it was in the fifth year of the marathon that it was granted AIMS status, while it took a further seven years - eleven in total - to gain IAAF recognition.

“This is a great achievement for the country,” noted Durairaj. “This is why SriLankan Airlines is involved; it is of national significance and brings in tourists. We get a lot of requests with regard to promotions and sponsorships as well.”

He added that it was SriLankan Airlines’ goal to “put Sri Lanka on the map” through international sports events. 

“We need to highlight the international nature of the event. For 2015 this is the only sports event that SriLankan Airlines is involved in. We’re not even doing the Golf Classic this year due to the company’s focus on getting back to profitability. However this is something we have been involved in from day one, and it’s an important event for the country.”

The main organisers of the Colombo Marathon has been the LSR (Lanka Sportreizen) Group and their hope is that the event will help the development of Sri Lankan long distance runners.

“This is a platform to develop a lot of runners in this country,” said LSR Founder Thilak Weerasinghe. “We have given the young ones to train up to 5 and 10 kilometres; even they can plan their timing for five and ten. So after 18 years they can train for the half marathon and then the full.”

He added that the main advantage was that they would be running with international runners, from whom a lot can be learned. However, Weerasinghe says that, having sponsored the event since inception, LSR will soon find it difficult to continue without outside assistance. 

“The cost of staging the marathon this year is Rs. 23 million and we’re handing out Rs. 2.5 million in prize money for the winner. We also need about 20,000 water bottles and 10,000 sponges. SriLankan is sponsoring currently, and most of the cost is borne by our company,” he explained

SriLankan Airlines clarified that they do not sponsor with cash and that they provide airline tickets. With the event now reaching a saturation point, a significant amount of outside sponsorship is needed for further growth.

“It has come to a point where the event cannot be managed on our own,” added Weerasinghe. “By 2020 we are hoping to have about 10,000 runners. To manage a number like that we are going to need a different circuit.”

The Police currently provide assistance in clearing a lane for the runners, however traffic still moves along the roads, something Weerasinghe said could also use an upgrade.

“We need to develop a Colombo circuit. For example for the Singapore and London marathons, several roads are closed for the sole purpose of the marathon. In Sri Lanka that is not currently the case; that needs to be developed.”

LSR General Manager W.M. Dharmapala, speaking at gathering of runners earlier this week, claimed there was a general lack of support from authorities, an attitude he feels that needs to change. 

“We were given false promises by different ministers in the past. Last year’s prize money was more than this year. There has been talk of ‘mega-objectives’ but when it comes to walking the talk, it has not been the case,” he charged.

“We have been getting support from different organisations mainly to compensate for the lack of financial support from the Government.”

Dharmapala also related an anecdote of how a previous Minister of Sport had not even been aware of the Colombo Marathon’s continued existence, let alone growth. However, he was hopeful that new Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera would buck the trend.

“We had a small audience with the new Sports Minister for a short while, the day after he was sworn in. He was unable to make it for the press conference announcing the marathon but he promised to be there for the start of the event. So far we haven’t had any concrete discussions, but hopefully after he sees the run this year we can have more productive discussions going forward.”