The Colombo Marathon, officially known as the LSR Colombo Marathon and formerly known as the LSR International Marathon, is a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

held annually since 1998 in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, capital city of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It is a permanent member of Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS). It also has voting rights in AIMS, which makes it one of 56 races out of 110 worldwide with that right.

History

In the late 1990s, Sri Lankan tour operator LSR decided to start an international marathon in

because there was no such event in Sri Lanka at that time. The first marathon, the "LSR International Marathon", was held in the city of

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

in 1998. The host city of the marathon subsequently changed to

Negombo Negombo (, ), also known as Punchi Romaya (Little Rome), is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, from Colombo via the E03 expressway ...

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

, and then Dambulla, before Sri Lanka's capital

hosted the event for the first time in 2004. In 2006 the name of marathon was changed to the "LSR Colombo Marathon".

Organization

Travel agent and tour operator company Lanka Sportreizen (LSR) is the organizer and primary sponsor of the marathon. The event is also supported by the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Youth Affairs, the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, and the

Ministry of Sport A ministry of sports or ministry of youth and sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. It is led by the minister of s ...

, along with Sri Lankan Airlines and the Sri Lanka Police Service. Technical assistance is provided by the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka. Some of the key objectives of the marathon are to promote recreational activities in Sri Lanka and to promote Sri Lanka as safe and ideal place for tourism and sports.

Participants and prize

The 2015 edition of the marathon hosted around 7,000 runners from more than 30 countries, who participated in various categories. The prize money for the event was increased from 2014 to encourage an increase in participation, with the prize money for winner of full marathon increasing from $1,500 (US) to $2,500 (US). The event includes a special full and half marathons for men and women over 50 years in addition to a "fun run" of 5 and 10 km for youth aged more than 15 years.

Course

The full marathon starts at the headquarters of the Ministry of Sports and proceeds through the suburbs of

Borella Borella is the largest suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka represented by divisional code 8. Demographic Borella is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic area. The major ethnic communities in Borella are Sinhalese people, Sinhalese and Tamils. There are a ...

, Dematagoda, Peliyagoda, Wattala, along the Hamilton Canal, Pamunugama, Thalahena, Pitipana and Duwa, finishing at the

Beach Park.

Results

References

{{reflist Marathons in Sri Lanka Athletics competitions in Sri Lanka Recurring sporting events established in 1998