Well, this one is not for the faint-hearted for sure. You have to be almost a professional in running to even think about attempting it. I was amazed to hear that they have an official cutoff timing of 1 hr 30 mins for the 21K mark for participants to be allowed to continue further in the marathon. Anything beyond this, and you are sure to have your BIB taken off, and basically you are then on your own to complete the remaining distance!
I read today an experience of a fellow runner who crossed the 21K in 1:35, had the BIB cut off at that point, there was no water beyond 24K, and he still managed to complete the race in 4:03! Amazing!
Whats more surprising is that there is no Half marathon event for Men, thats an exclusive privilege of the Ladies.
That said, I would still stand by the organizers with what they are doing, everyone has their own vision of things, and in this case, it seems to be to promote the event for the elites, rather than the common folks (for whom they do have the 10K run).