SHILLONG: The eagerly awaited 3rd Sohra Cherrapunjee Marathon seemingly disappointed many runners from the city and outside who came to take part in the “coveted event”.
Several participants complained of almost complete lack of management on the part of the organizers of the event, the route for which was certified by the United States Track and Field Association thus making it a Boston Qualifier Course.
While some complained that there were no officials or volunteers to guide them at the finishing line, others claimed that even the timing mats were not in order.
“After running for kms on a harsh rainy day, the people were not offered any sort of refreshment,” said a participant who did not wish to be named.
Meanwhile, the Facebook page of the Sohra Cherapunjee Marathon was also bombarded with nasty comments from disappointed participants who even went ahead to term the experience as one of the worst ever.
“Post run experience was the worst ever…a lot to improve…during the run, energy drinks, biscuits would have been of great help. Seen a few runners looking for food,” read one of the comments.
It may be mentioned that this time the coordination between the organizers of Run Meghalaya and Police Department did not sync too well. Buses that carried the participants and which were supposed to park at a particular place were told to move away to a different venue.
As a result participants who were told to bring a change of clothes and had kept their bags in the buses could not locate them. Many were shivering with cold having been drenched to their bones. They were disappointed.
A runner who participated in last year’s event too felt that the marathon was far better organised the last time round and the fact that this time the run was a complete one way as against the one last year where runners turned from the half distance to arrive at the finishing line created most of the problems related to transportation and logistics.
Meanwhile, the organizers clarified that there were certain issues towards the finish line which resulted due to a false start at the Half Marathon and a few people’s timing were not recorded.
“We are currently working on these issues so that everyone gets timing for the race they completed and that should be rectified in the next couple of days.”
“In general there was some confusion at Sohra as buses carrying baggage were wrongly directed to another parking area and some participants took time getting their bags, which under heavy rains created frustration and anxiety.”
“At the end the volunteers and organizers present worked hard to resolve the issues. Having said that, we take full responsibility for some of the issues that cropped up and will ensure that we close out this event properly,” said Gerald Pde, vice president, Run Meghalaya.
