Runners face injury threat in today’s Vasai-Virar Marathon

The uneven patch which is part of the marathon route

Are the roads of Vasai and Virar safe for marathons runners? Going by what Sunday mid-day gathered less than 24 hours before the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC) marathon's Sunday kick off, they don't appear so. Paver blocks covered with tar and uneven patches have rendered the roads dangerous.

Ankush Padawale, who will run the half marathon today, said the organisers are not bothered about the safety of the runners. "I went to collect my bib in Virar on Thursday and there was some work being done on the road. I noticed they have not relaid the road, but just put tar over the existing one. This can be dangerous to any athlete. They can injure their ankle, lose balance, clash against each other and even fall," Padawale, who is also a coach for marathon runners, said.

Marathon runners Ankush Padawale and Swati Panchbudhe

Meanwhile, Nagpur resident Swati Panchbudhe, who will participate in the full marathon and arrived in Virar on Saturday, said she did not have the time to do a recce of the roads. "My target is to complete the full marathon in three hours, eight minutes. But if the roads are uneven, I will not be able to achieve that."

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When asked how much was spent to repair the pothole-riddled roads of Vasai and Virar ahead of marathon, Rajendra Lad, VVMC's executive engineer said: "Various items like maintenance of roads, painting of dividers and electric poles, cutting of bushes, footpath repairing etc are involved. We don't have details on the total expenditure as our [repair] work is still going on." Sanjay Kadam, one of the organisers, did not respond to emails.

Full marathon
42.195 km
Start: New Viva College Virar to Victor Heights (Vasai) and back to New Viva College (Virar)

Half marathon
21.097 km
Start: Victor Heights (Vasai) to New Viva College (Virar)

With inputs from Diwakar Sharma