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Eldos P. Kuriakose - Beautiful event, flawless organization, ... 

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Eldos P. Kuriakose - Beautiful event, flawless organization, ... 

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My very first half marathon, enjoyed it thoroughly,... the excitement on finish, the good pains, the bad pains,... enjoyed all of it... Thanks guys !

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I had the time of my life! Never better. So many Spices!

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I had the time of my life! Never better. So many Spices!

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The other runners smelled bad.

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It was a really amazing experience... What a Crew.. What a support.. Nicely arranged Food.. Nice Warm up session... Nice Medical Care.. Above all we all blessed with the legends like Major DP Singh... Thank You organizers.... Definitely See you all in SCM 2016..

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It was very well organised. You kept time,food was great

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It was very well organised. You kept time,food was great

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SCM 2015 was a well organised event. Kudos to the 'crew'. Right from registration, Kit supply, location everything was just perfect. We all know that the organizers are running enthusiasts in this city. You guys are excellent for getting the necessary approvals from authorities, getting the help of Police for diverting the traffic and give a free path for runners. Its really wonderful to see that this event was executed with out the help of any professional event managing firms. This shows your passion for running and you guys are truly inspiring this city to follow healthy lifestyle and to respect the mother earth.

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A wonderful, fulfilling and enriching experience overall. Nicely organised, well thought off, good coverage and lovely volunteers cheering through the route. The participation could have been more which for some reasons was not, so efforts could be made in this direction for a better subscription next year. The only sore point was poor illumination at certain places en route before sunrise that though nothing much can be done about but for liaising with KSEB wherever feasible/ possible ...

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Had a great time at Kochi (albeit short), and the SCM run is definitely one that I would recommend to anyone. Overall it was a very good event and the organisers definitely deserve a pat.

Would like to highlight some of the positives:

1) The medal - definitely worth the run and felt good holding it.

2) The physio stretches - awesome and helped in recovery

Some suggestions to spike up the proceedings next year:

1) The BIB collection and Expo should be kept closer to Willington Island (or) hotels recommended for staying. Didnt feel the BIB collection venue had anything to offer or was worth the time spent braving the traffic.

2) The road conditions were quite choppy in some areas which required the runners to be extra vigilant especially given the dim/poor lighting (guess, this is something outside your control)

3) Given that the USP of this run is the route which covers the best of Kochi, why not start it a bit late so that runners can have a glimpse of the treats during part day-light.

Here's wishing you all the best and looking fwd to running SCM over the coming years.

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My first marathon. Throughly enjoyed. Kudos to team organisers.Looking forward for the next event.

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It was really a great experience while participating at Spice Coast Marathon at Kochi. Must appreciate the whole team of Organizers, young volunteers, Naval Trainees, students etc.etc. Also the cheering public at Fort Kochi along the route! Personally, I was thrilled while crossing the finishing line as it is my first full marathon! Sure, I will come back again in 2016!!

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I am extremely grateful to the organizers (soles of Cochin) of this great running events, the crew, the volunteers, all have done a wonderful Job. I personally experienced good hospitality, encouragement during the full marathon. All necessary health drinks and safety provided to all runners, especially a beautiful medal and enough refreshment after the run...etc.. I love to run next year. I hope soles of Cochin will invite me next years also.

Thanks.

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This was my maiden run an half marathon , completely inspired , motivated & energized

by Mr Mathew, Kumarji , Ramesh Karta & all friends of Soles of Cochin of which I am a member since I started running on the 23 Aug 15. I completed my run in 2;35;14. the event was organised extremely well no confusion all laid out straight and simple . I enjoyed the run and intend to continue into the future as well .

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Dear organisers,
It was really a great experience to participate in the half marathon. Though it was my debut marathon, thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking forward to participate in the coming years as well.

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First of all a Big Thanks to your  Team, for providing this opportunity.

This is the first Half Marathon, I successfully completed within 2 hours and 23 minutes.  I am enjoy the same.
Also your provide a professional touch in the programme.  That all participant can perform very well.

Big thanks too your team.  We have to meet next year.

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Thankyou Soles of Cochin for this fantastic event. I take this opportunity to thank individually all the Volunteers and the Crews. Event was well organised. I am from Madurai TN and I will be back again next year.

Cheers to all members.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the trail. Lot of aid stations enroute and good vounteers. Even the medical aid provided at the venue was too good.

It was a fantastic trail. Loved the aid stations that was provided. I will surely

Improvements

Warm up was utter boring. Also

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The organisers, the crew, the volunteers did a marvellous job in providing us a great race & a pleasant memory to take home!

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Great experience well organized , including traffic management and stray dog management !!, On course was excellent

After race experience not so good, no energy drink, food stalls were there but we did'nt know it was complimentary. Immediate receipt of medal was great but felt a bit lost after race , no guidance .

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This was our first run in Cochin. We were informed that this is good place to run. Indeed it is a good place, trail and well organised run.

Hydration points were there all along the route and well maintained.

We enjoyed the run and scenic beauty. City as a whole is very clean. The post run breakfast was tasty and sumptuous.

We find the response for the run and from the public was less.

Even I find that the HM course was slightly lesser.

The other aspect is that of the Results. You have announced that there will be Finishers Medal and Certificate for all finishers. Apart from this the winners in each category will get Awards and trophies from IDBI Federal Life Insurance, but we did not find any trophies. All the winners got was a certificate AND THAT TOO IT WAS NOT SIGNED.

Hope to come back next year for a bigger participation. Thanks

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This was my debut Half Marathon. The overall experience was fantastic. There are a lot of positives of the event. Starting from flagging off the race till the post race breakfast, the whole event was well managed. I would definitely be back for the next year edition of the race. I have only one suggestion for the event management team: We are in the days of implementing Swach Bharat. Availability of Garbage bins at Aid Stations of the Route would be very much appreciated. Littering of roads could be avoided with availability of Garbage bins.

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It was a wonderful experience for me. superb race support . Food was very nice. (Totally, fantastic and well organized event).

"THANK YOU SOLES OF COCHIN"

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It was a good and healthy outing with friends :-)

And cool medal too...

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Great Run...

+ ves:

(1) Great ambiance for runners at starting point

(2) Presence of physically challenged group is a great initiative and motivation for others

- ves:

(1) Not enough sign boards, there was a bit of confusion between different category towards finishing line.

(2) Better use of Social media to make it more popular.

See you next year...

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Congratulations for the wonderful marathon. Thanks to everyone behind this.

Next year if you can pls provide extra lighting at darker areas.

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Overall a good event . Enjoyed a lot with the facilities provided while running . Yes, roads are bit narrow and less lighting at places which made running bit tough. some places road condition itself was bad. But overall it was okay and I enjoyed the run .

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The goods :

Very friendly, community oriented event. Did not have a commercial feel to the event which many marathons have these days.

Lots of support, aid stations were good, and the food was great too.

The medical tent was friendly and provided good support after the run.

Areas of improvement:

1. The local population could have been more engaged. I did not find the local folks encouraging, or cheering the runners. Felt this part was better in the 2014 marathon.

2. The food distribution could have been more organised. E.g. a special line for Full and HM runners and another for 5k. There was lot of waiting and hustling for food especially for eggs. The food was very good though.

3. Some areas of the route were very dark, and some lighting arrangements could have been made even if it is portable lights. The darkness combined with potholes could cause potential harm to runners. If the pothole ridden parts can be avoided during the dark hours, that is an option too

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Great experience of Half Marathon.

My sincere thanks to each & every body .70% organised.

Area needs improvement are

1) garbage collection

2) food shelter, energy drink distribution

3) issuing of certificates to all finishers. Through online at least .

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Positives:1) Was VERY WELL organized. 2) FUN in PUREST form

3) Hydration Support, Cheers, THE DHOLS everything was amazingly superb.

4) Food and refreshment arrangement was also exceeding expectations

5) route was very scenic and very well chosen

6) some many more actually

Suggestion: Next time should announce before hand if the route is barefoot friendly

But considering the effort put in and the pain taken (which was very evident in every places), it was a blast!! Hats off. :)

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Really enjoyed the run, was able to do my PB which was even more overwhelming. Kudos to the organizers, you guys were amazing. Keep it up Soles Of Kochi, if all is well per plan, will be back in Kochi with a bigger contingent from Chennai next year.

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 Dr. K.P.Shankaran

Bib no.2472

Half-Marathon

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 Dr. K.P.Shankaran

Bib no.2472

Half-Marathon

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Yesterday at the Age of 68 I participated in my first ever half-marathon and managed to finish it. I am deeply indebted to the Soles of Cochin for motivating me . They trained me so well that I was able to complete the run without any glitches.  The whole event was so beautifully managed. KUDOS TO THE ORGANIZERS. My special thanks to the volunteers for being so caring and thoughtful. I also express my special gratitude to Ms. Seema, Shri Mathew and Shri Kumar

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Well organized event

Route area need to improve

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It was my first Marathon Run and enjoyed it a lot.

Good : Volunteers, Medical Support, Organizers,

Bad : Road Condition

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Let me first congratulate the organizers & volunteers for the perfect co ordination & running of the event. Each & everyone of the team was highly enthusiastic in delivering their duties & very natural with smiling faces. This was the kind of encouragement a participant desire in any event.

Hydration points were at convenient locations and so no case getting dehydrated. Then, sumptuous breakfast ! What more? Photographers were clicking at every runner and we runners got amazed; Steve Boons?

SCM 2016 will be the most sought after marathon event and I wish every bit of luck to the organizers & volunteers.

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Fantastic event, very well organised like last year and thanks to you all for wonderful support, cheering all participants..Will be back next year

But felt that crowd participation was less than last year somehow, all the route rather looked empty apart from volunteers and guides..

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JEAN JACOB (# 2554) First Half Marathon was a beauty!

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JEAN JACOB (# 2554) First Half Marathon was a beauty!

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This was my first half marathon and what an experience it was!

POSITIVE: early start time, pre-run music, route, volunteers and drums along the route to cheer us on, water stations, post-run breakfast

TO IMPROVE: Pre-run warm up wasn't much of a warm up, Medal could have been less dull and dark and more bright and photogenic, maybe with a metallic finish in gold or silver. I get it that its locally sourced coir but aesthetically it was wanting in shine :)

Some people here are complaining about the sorry state of the roads, but as a local let me tell you: Only God can get smoothen out the potholes in god's own country. You can't expect the marathon organizers to fix them. :)

All in all, great experience...looking forward to running the Full Marathon next...

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This was my first marathon experience at the age of 54 years.In fact I walked the 5km and completed within time. Because I had a heart attack six years back I was not very particular about completing the course when I started, but the well organised event and the presence of the bladerunners motivated me to finish. Iam on cloud 9 now. A big thank you to the organisers. Iam already looking forward to the next year's run. Yesterday and today I practised and I am improving day by day. A big thank you to the organisers, my daughter and my friends for encouraging me to participate. God bless you.

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Dear Soles, It was a well thought out and professionally managed event.. Starting from the route, venue , refreshment,food arrangements, cheerful volunteers every thing was really great.. 3 months back i was a chain smoker, smoking 15 cigerattes a day , lighting 500 matchsticks a month, throwing 6000 cigar buds a year! Soles of cochin transformed me as an responsible citizen! With just 21 days of on & off practice , i could complete 21 kms race. It is only bcos of the inspiration, motivation provided by each of you! Otherwise i would not have attempted even 5 km run.Like me you are inspiring & transforming many for a cleaner & healthy India. Hats of to you guys! only 1 feedback for improvement, please have distance covered standees at every 1 km.. It will be a great motivation and help runners to pace the race!

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Positive Side: (1) Fantastic event and well organized. (2) The Volunteers did a splendid job in all aspects. (3) Food was great. Areas of Improvements: (1) The route was great, however, the roads were little uneven at specific places - so there is always a chance for the runners to tumble inadvertently. (2) One more tent / food camp could have helped the runners to eat their breakfast under shade comfortably. (3) Doing prize money would probably bring in some more top athletes to the event and make it truly an international race.

I will see you guys at the 2016 edition, hoping to do a full marathon. :-)

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Hi Soles of Cochin

The Good (What you want to continue doing):

1. Early start time to beat the heat and reasonably good lighting where required to enable this

2. Aid stations seemed pretty well stocked and spaced

3. Flat course :)

The Bad (Feedback to improve of course):

1. Not sure if the HM course was also IATA certified as my Garmin showed 20.7 and not 21.097 when I finished.

2. The warm up and pre race announcements etc. seemed very amateurish and did not have the class of say a RFL organized run. You need to get a qualified person to conduct the warm up session and a good anchor to MC the whole event

3. No announcements on when to expect the prize distribution ceremony etc. even after 4 - 4:30 hours into the event (No announcements on whats next even at 8 30). This made the crowd leave and restless.

4. No cool down sessions. No areas with shade to relax after the run. It was hot and stuffy and runners were tired of looking for places to park their backsides after a marathon!

5. No real prizes to the winners. Come on guys, you are Boston qualifier race with so many sponsors yet the prize distribution ceremony in both the content of what was said and what was handed out to winners was worse than even a casual local park 5k run. I know you are sending some trophies to winners later and stuff but at least half the reward for a winner is to take something back home that morning!

6. Get some crowd to cheer people. The onlookers were largely locals who were least interested in the event. May be even slightly mocking at the crazy guys running nowhere :).

7. Have like a Pasta party (At extra charge) or something the previous day. Lends the event more seriousness and class and surely probably a revenue generating event for the organizers as well.

Overall, had a good time in Cochin and look forward to you guys taking this feedback and making it a world class run.

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Positive Side: (1) Fantastic event and well organized. (2) The Volunteers did a splendid job in all aspects. (3) Food was great.

Areas of Improvements: (1) The route was great, however, the roads were little uneven at specific places - so there is always a chance for the runners to tumble inadvertently. (2)One more tent / food camp could have helped the runners to eat their breakfast under shade comfortably.(3) Doing prize money would probably bring in some more top athletes to the event and make it truly an international race.

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It was a great experience to run in the wellington island cum fort kochi. Very neatly arranged event with enough hydration and awesome post run breakfast: one of the best post run breakfast i ever had. THANKYOU SOLES OF COCHIN!
Only concern was the roads not so friendly for the stretch of some 5k for barefoot runners atleast to me and the place was quite far from main city ernakulam.

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Hey. Thanks for such a great experience. Right from the start the organization of the race impressed me. You guys have just nailed it. Keep it up. Just one thing I noticed, which I feel needs to be addressed. The dustbins were too close to the energy drink/water stations. A lot of people who grabbed their drink running had no place to dump the glasses and had to resort to dumping it on the road. Please do something about this (Did I tell you even the plastic cups impressed me? Very thoughtful indeed)

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I traveled from Pune to participate at the Home turf for the first time.  A great way to start my vacation. A very well planned event. An early start considering the weather... Reflective stickers for safety.. A unique medal.. and the best part .. The post race breakfast :) Will be back next year.

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i really enjoyed the event, thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in your event.

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Well Organized Marathon...well done Sole of Kochi club members

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Having run the last year's first edition, the organisers have done a great job this year - the organisation and arrangements were superb, cannot think of one flaw. Really have to go searching for it. The water stations, the contents of items at the water stations, the support, the mile markers, the hot breakfast, the medal, the warmness of the organisers, the kochi city itself.... everything was of high order. Should not make comparisons - but the SCM 2015 ranks very much up there with the best ones.

One suggestion for improvement would be route the final 5-8 kms of the marathon finish along with the half marathoners, so as to have more fellow runners alongside in that difficult phase of the run - sometimes you do not see anyone alongside.

Thanks and grow bigger SCM.

Best wishes.

Chandru

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This was the first time I am participating a marathon. It was a wonderful experience for me. please continue this on every year.

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Hi. Very well sorted event. Pure fun! But I remember a number of people clicking photographs along the way. Is there a link that one could be guided to to access those?

Thanks

Vishal

2641

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Well organised albeit with low participation. That left me wondering why!! Route was good despite the limitations of narrow roads, but traffic arrangements were great as also the cheering and hydration part.

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This was by far one of the best runs I've participated in. Great course, superb race support (especially SOC volunteers and stocked hydration stations) and well thought out post-race facilities. Shout-out to Ajay Appaden for his unbridled energy. Hope to return in 2016 with a bigger team from the Dubai Creek Striders.

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The event was well organized, thanks for the great time that we all had during this year's event.  I would like to thank all the volunteers who were so enthusiastic and always encouraging.  They all were very courteous.  I would like to highlight the great support provided by volunteer, Vinshad.   I interacted with him multiple times and he was always helpful.  He cycled along during the last 5 kms of my full marathon and we kept discussing different topics which took my mind own the pain and tiredness.  Kudos to Vinshad!!!

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The event was well organized, thanks for the great time that we all had during this year's event.  I would like to thank all the volunteers who were so enthusiastic and always encouraging.  They all were very courteous.  I would like to highlight the great support provided by volunteer, Vinshad.   I interacted with him multiple times and he was always helpful.  He cycled along during the last 5 kms of my full marathon and we kept discussing different topics which took my mind own the pain and tiredness.  Kudos to Vinshad!!!

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One Suggestion, as many others have suggested on Facebook, it would be good to have few toilets along the route. Its wrong to expect runners to pay for the toilet during the run or do it out on the open. I hope you improve on this next year.

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Hi..i have participated in half marathon and enjoyed it.route was awesome and crew were enthusiastic.though i have couple of feedback to share..

1. Hydration was not available between 14km to 18 km.this part is usually tough on runners.

2. There was no energy drink/salt at finish line.

Loved the event and looking forward for next year.

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GOOD JOB GUYS..Looking forward for the next year..Choice Fitness Center

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GOOD JOB GUYS..Looking forward for the next year..Choice Fitness Center

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Last year after the 5k I promised myself to return for the HM. Yesterday I did it and hopefully next year come back for the FM. The event was managed exceptionally well with the band guys rocking it. Couple small suggestion though is for separate or more food counters. With the 5k guys storming in we had to wait for a long time for a bite. I would also like to have a different design of medal next time. Well see you guys next year :)

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Great job by the organizers, volunteers, police, and other government bodies in conducting this race. This is a great example of how people can contribute positively to the society.

I wish more people will join the races next year.

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SANKARA NARAYANAN VENKATARAMAN (BIB # 4245)

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SANKARA NARAYANAN VENKATARAMAN (BIB # 4245)

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1. Awesome location for a run, i really enjoyed the support and on route support.

2. Fortunate enough to have lesser humidity this year :)

3. One honest suggestion as a runner who cannot afford to stop and drink, PLEASE avoid this re-usable PLASTIC tumblers, The practical difficulty being, i cannot crush the tumbler to drink, so it gets into nasal and literally blocks your breathing pattern, or i can only stop and drink

4. Some way to setting up conveyance to main land would be of great help, people visiting from outstation or whoever doesnt have conveyance back, its super hard to find any conveyance to get out the island. That would be of great help given that runners would be crazy tired after the run

5. There were few stretches along the full marathon route where its confusing as to which way to go, instead of just placing the cone in the middle of the cross roads, it would be great if we have the ribbons tied, so that we have it clear.