Its going to be one heck of a running season with following races scheduled for the season:
Oct 28th – Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon
Nov 25th – Hyderabad Half Marathon
Dec 2nd – Singapore Marathon
Dec 9th – Bangalore Marathon
Dec 16th – Bangalore Ultramarathon
Jan 20th – Mumbai Marathon
The Bangalore marathon was announced this week, at such a short notice, i.e. not even 2 months before the actual run (actually just 1.5 months before the run date)! If you are even a little bit into running, you will know that this will not give any real chance for people to prepare well for the run. Another very annoying this which Crossover (the organizers of Bangalore marathon) did was to announce it just before the Bangalore Ultramarathon, an event which has been planned for the last one year, and had been announced long-long time back. It surely creates a conflict of interest between the two events in the running community. It speaks of the high level of unprofessionalism which Crossover has shown. In spite of knowing about the other event which was planned much in advance, they just go ahead with their whims and fancies, not even considering that both events are going to be held in the same city and the ultramarathon may lose participants due to this.
I already know a lot about the attitude (or lack of) of Crossover consulting, the organizers of the Bangalore marathon. If you want to read some details around this, do check my post here on one of their previous events to get some first hand knowledge.
Here are some of the points which distinguish the Bangalore ultra event from the Bangalore marathon (for those who are considering what to run):
Bangalore Ultra:
1. Announced almost 9 months ago with a commitment, nay a promise to
never change the date. See bangalore–ultra.blogspot.com
2. Organized with intent to cater to people who VALUE a clean
enjoyable running experience.
3. No dilution of experience: No fun runs (OK the 26K is kind of a fun
run), no hard pavement, no running for charity
4. Considerable thought and effort put into it. Organizers meeting
weekly since June 2007. Take a look at the website.
5. Resort where you can come with family and enjoy.
6. Cost: Okay this is on the high side for most people in India. But
remember, there is no free lunch in life. You get what you pay for! many
people consider it no big deal to buy an air ticket and spend > INR10,000 to
go run a mere Half Marathon in a distant city!
Bangalore Marathon:
1. Shifting dates.
2. No consideration for RFL in arranging their date! RFL runners
probably form the largest contingent of their potential runners.
3. Rest assured that the event will focus on fun run, NGO charity,
etc. The marathon effort will be purely a joke.
4. Hard pavement, traffic, fight for your medals and shirts at the
end, get your prizes stripped off due to mismanagement, etc.
5. No class: Knowing that the Bangalore Ultra was in preparation and
having been publicized, yet to come out with a clashing date
without even consulting speaks of the lowest class.
Now people can decide. If in spite of all this they wish to run the
Bangalore Marathon then they very well deserve it.
(Note: Section in blue above has been picked up from web, apologies to author)