AFI official to supervise Mumbai Marathon

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will depute Dr. Tony Daniel, Technical Committee chairman of the federation, to supervise conduct of the 13th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2016. He will work with local technical officials before and during the event scheduled for January 17.

Worli Sealink will serve as the starting point for the upcoming Mumbai Half Marathon.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will depute Dr. Tony Daniel, Technical Committee chairman of the federation, to supervise conduct of the 13th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2016. He will work with local technical officials before and during the event scheduled for January 17.

The AFI technical head will arrive in Mumbai on Friday, two days prior to the race. Satish Uchil, AFI Technical delegate for SCMM, informed that the number of officials has actually reduced with each year. “Due to advances in technology, we will have lesser officials each year,” he said.

Uchil added: “Technology has advanced so much that even the finishing and timing by officials is only a backup and will be referred to only in case of any problems with the software.”

Race Director Hugh Jones has said that the Half Marathon will have a new start point. The race will commence at the Worli seaface. Competitors will start from Worli Diary, go on to the Sealink and finish at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), the same finish point as the Full Marathon.

'Hill stretch adds character'

Elite runners negotiate a hill section, an uphill stretch where the lead athletes break away during the Full Marathon. Jones said: “The hill stretch adds character to the SCMM, bringing a variety to the kind of runners who can win a race. Elite athletes have a race strategy and this difficult section is an important part.” As per the revised route, the Half Marathoners will run over the Worli Sea Link twice.

Jones is one IAAF’s leading Course Measurers and traverses the route on a bicycle. The London Marathon is among those events in which the course is measured and certified by Jones.

Professional runners compete for prize money at the Full Marathon (42.195km) and Half Marathon (21.097km) in categories of men and women. According to promoter, Procam International, the entry list is as follows: 5190 (Full Marathon, including 4620 men, 408 women), 14, 431 (Half Marathon, including 11, 695 men, 2653 women).

The SCMM is designated a Gold Label event by the IAAF.