Wipro Bengaluru Marathon: Participants run 10 km without water, call it ‘absolute disaster’

Wipro Bengaluru Marathon: Participanst complained of inadequate water supply, few toilets along the route and poor crowd management.

Runners who took part in the Wipro Bengaluru Marathon on Sunday were in for a rude shock over inadequate water supply, few toilets along the route and poor crowd management. Over 4,500 people participated in the 13th edition of the marathon, which was organised by NEB Sports — but many took to social media after the event to register their disappointment.

Wipro Bengaluru Marathon participants complained of poor management (Facebook/@marathonbengaluru)

“Post-apocalyptic scene”

Shaaz A Khan took to the social media platform X to share his experience of the Wipro Bengaluru Marathon. Khan claimed that after the 6 km mark and till the 16-17 km mark, none of the water stations had any water.

“It was a post-apocalyptic scene, watching people reach out and empty every water-can just for a sip,” he wrote.

The Bengaluru man said that people ran without water for 10 kilometres. Some even stopped to buy their own water, but this too was made more difficult by the fact that few shops were open on Sunday morning.

“And all this, right at the most gruelling part of the run near the MG Road flyover. For full marathoners, this was their kilometre 25-35 stretch. Looking at everyone panting, I was genuinely scared of witnessing a cardiac arrest,” he said on X.

Khan also alleged that the toilets were few and far between, leading to long queues. He was not alone in raising these questions.

“Absolute logistical disaster”

Shritilekha, a Bengaluru resident, called the Wipro Bengaluru Marathon an “absolute logistical disaster” where participants had to deal with lack of water and suffocation due to overcrowding.

“Running out of drinking water completely past the 10km mark and recycling unwashed plastic cups are severe public health hazards,” she wrote on X.

“To top it off, funneling 42,000 finishers into a suffocating, overcrowded stadium with the exit 250 meters away created a genuinely dangerous human bottleneck,” she added.

Ultramarathoner Prashanth Vaidya, founder of Running Genie, did not take part in the marathon himself but said that several of his friends, who did take part, left with nothing but horror stories.

Vaidya recalled how similar complaints were raised even two years ago when he ran a full marathon. “The organisers never seem to learn,” he wrote.

NEB Sports reacts

Nagaraj Adiga, Chairman and Managing Director of NEB Sports, acknowledged organisational lapses. Speaking to The Hindu, Adiga said that runners’ feedback would be taken into account.

"In keeping with our green principles, we served water in jars and reusable cups, not bottles. There was a delay in refilling these jars in one section of the route," Adiga told The Hindu.

“We are considering distributing water bottles all along the route from the next edition.

"We want to ensure that every single participant has a good experience. Our team.will analyse all feedback and make the necessary improvements," Adiga said.