LSR Colombo Marathon on October 8
The 17th Edition of the Lanka Sportreizen (LSR) Colombo Marathon series, which is now a Calendar Event of the Ministry of Sports is scheduled to be held on October 8 with an all new restructured route in Colombo.
The marathon customarily flagged off in Colombo and ended in Negombo but the organisers have relayed the route with the intention of promoting Colombo with the new finish line set in Dunagalpitiya, approximately 10 kilometres behind the usual finish. Over 10,000 runners, local and international are expected to participate in the event.
In the past, this event has been conducted from Colombo to Negombo. However, with the development of the City of Colombo, it has been decided that ‘Fun Runs’ of 5km and 10km will be held in a Circular Route within the city limits of Colombo, which will showcase the beauty and nature of the city of Colombo.
The Event will be starting at 6.00 am in close proximity to the BMICH Colombo 7 and will continue along the newly measured route by the IAAF.
The Route is from Bauddhaloka Mw., R.G. Senanayake Mw., Maitland Crescent, Horton Place, Kolluptitya / Sri Jayawardenapura Road, Sir Marcus Fernando Mw., Albert Crescent, Independence Avenue, Philip Gunawardena Mw., Thunmulla Junction, Bauddhaloka Mw., Jawatta Road, Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Himi Mw., Torrington Avenue, Bauddhaloka Mw., Maitland Place, Independence Avenue, Maitland Crescent, Maitland Place, Vidya Mw., Wijerama Mw., Bauddhaloka Mw., Borella Kanaththa Junction, Baseline Road, Peliyagoda, Nawaloka Roundabout, Negombo / Colombo Road, Hekiththa Junction, Hekiththa Road, Canal Road, Bopitiya Road, Pamunugama Road up to Dunagalpitiya.
The organisers, LSR anticipates that the total expenditure for the conduct of this event is approximately Rs. 24.2 million, out of which an amount of Rs.2.5 million is expected to be distributed among winners of different categories.
LSR, being a pioneer in organising Water and Nature based Sports Activities with the objective of boosting the image of Sri Lanka as a destination for Recreational Activities, has an unblemished record over the past three decades for organising and conducting unique events.
“Going down memory lane with some of the events they have authored include the Sri Lanka T-Cup- Road Cycling Race, Rumble in the Jungle- Mountain Biking Challenge, Vittel Amazon- Adventure Challenge, WQS Surfing with the Australian Surfing Professionals and Sri Lankan Golf Classic. It was with this objective that in 1998 the LSR International Marathon was introduced in Galle, which has developed progressively over the last 16 editions and now has become a major event in the sports calendar in Asia,” Thilak Weerasinghe, the Chairman of LSR, stated.
It is the only International Marathon in Sri Lanka registered with the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS), the governing body for Long Distance Running at IAAF and been awarded the voting rights at the AIMS World Congress as the 54th member among its 56 voting members out of 110 countries, comprising of 420 races in the world.