Organisational lapses marred the 13th edition of the Wipro Bengaluru Marathon here on Sunday, with several runners complaining of inadequate water supply and poor crowd management.

Participants said water was unavailable at some stations, while congestion caused by runners from different categories affected the timings.

Organised by NEB Sports, the event attracted around 45,000 participants across four disciplines — Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K and 5K.

Ekta Sirohi, who ran the half-marathon, said, “After around the 10-km mark, there was no water available. All the water stations were empty.”

Another participant said some well-wishers who had gathered along the route came to the runners’ aid by purchasing water bottles from nearby shops and distributing them.

There were also complaints about congestion at around the 18km mark, where runners from the Full Marathon and Half Marathon began to merge with those taking part in the 10K and 5K.

“Many of the 5K runners were walking at this stage. On the other hand, we came in at a good speed and could not get past them,” a half-marathon runner said.

NEB Sports CMD Nagaraj Adiga acknowledged the lapses and said the organisers would take the runners’ feedback 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 onwards,” he said.

Adiga added that the organisers were considering holding the 10K and 5K events a day before the Full Marathon and Half Marathon in future. This, he said, would help prevent the different categories from merging on the route.

“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.

The results (winners): Full marathon: Elite men: Bugatha Srinu (02:22:53). Elite women: Bhagirathi (03:00:18).

Half marathon: Men: Ankit Gupta (01:09:12). Women: Sugandha Sharma (01:34:55).

Olympian Gopi Thonakal now has a singular obsession — break the long-standing National record in marathon.

Shivnath Singh’s Jalandhar Mark of 2:12.00 has stood the test of time for 48 years and continues to elude the elite marathon runners in the country.

The 37-year-old Gopi came agonisingly close to breaking the record when he clocked 2:12.23 at the Valencia Marathon in December 2025. He was on course but cramps by the 36km mark slowed him down and he missed setting a National record by a whisker.

“If not for the cramps in my calves, I would have broken the National record in Valencia. I was disappointed. But it (national record) has kept me motivated and my dream is to break it before I retire,’’ said Gopi from his training base in Udhagamandalam.

Gopi got another opportunity in the New Delhi Marathon in February this year but finished second (2:13.12) behind Kartik Karkera (2:13.10). Gopi, Kartik and Man Singh punched their tickets for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games by achieving the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) qualifying mark (2:15.04).

“Qualifying for the Asian Games was my main objective at the New Delhi marathon. The fact that three of us qualified from the same race showed how competitive it was. The intense rivalry among the three of us has been mutually beneficial, pushing us to perform better. It is good to have company in a major event, as we can work as a team and pose a serious challenge to runners from Japan and China,” said Gopi, a former Asian champion in the event.

Having qualified for the Asian Games, Gopi wants to break the National record there. “I reckon I have to do something below 2:09 for a podium finish if the race is pretty fast. But sometimes the race may be slow and finish in 2:15. I feel I am capable of doing a sub 2:10. My body is in good shape and I am training hard. It would be nice if I get a chance to compete in one or two marathons before the Asian Games,’’ said Gopi, who participated in the Rio Olympics.