Marathon ‘dry run’ a wet affair

Hyderabad: “A bad experience” is what most participants of a ‘dry run’ for the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon said, after wading through the waterlogged roads of the city on Sunday.

Participants of the dry run which was held on Sunday by Hyderabad Runners were confronted with the city roads which had turned into cesspools at several places.

It was a preparatory run for the marathon and the half marathon to be held on August 30 in the city. Most of the nearly 250 participants who took part in the run from People’s Plaza to Gachibowli Stadium via Necklace Road, Jubilee Hills and Raheja Mind Space struggled to run through the sewage that was overflowing on the roads.

“Road No. 36 to Peddammagudi was flooded. The potholes were so bad at certain stretches like at Madhapur and Jubilee Hills that any fall would have caused severe injuries. Luckily for us, no one got injured,” said Mr Gogulla Samuel Sudhakar Rao of Hyderabad Runners.

While on the one hand there was a lot of traffic, and the poor condition of roads where the Metro Rail work was going on, the light showers were a dampener.

It was only the enthusiasm of the participants that kept the spirit up. Drains were overflowing due to the rain and the water on the roads was getting into the shoes of participants.

“It was raining, so we did expect some water-logged roads. However, it was far worse than expected,” Mr Rao said.

“Airtel Hyderabad Mara-thon on August 30 will have over 2,000 participants from across several cities and in the event of a rain on that day, it will be embarrassing for the city and the GHMC,” Mr Sudhakar Rao added.