Race review – Cognizant New Delhi Marathon 2026

I ran the half marathon in this event on Sunday, so can only really speak to that race, although I noted certain things that affect everyone, regardless of category, and some things that are specific to the longer distances.

So here goes. In the interests of full disclosure, I enjoyed my race and had fun, but it was not a seamless experience.

I thought the bib collection was fine – I liked the fact that cars could come into the stadium.

I literally collected my bib, got it verified (both processes were very speedy) and was out again in a matter of minutes. Very efficient.

Race day start was OK, though the holding area was crowded (but crowded is good because it means more people are running, which is what we want, right?). We started a few minutes late, but again, no biggie, because we amateurs are ranked on chip time not gun time.

The toilets I used in the stadium before starting were fine. But on the route itself – oh my God!!! What a disaster!

Where were the damn loos?

For God’s sake, when you have thousands and thousands of people running, ESPECIALLY WOMEN, we all need loos. Lots of ‘em.

If I had a rupee for every bloke I saw peeing by the side of the road, I could probably have paid for my entry fee. For once, in these circumstances, I don’t really blame them, because there was very little option. BUT WHAT ABOUT WE WOMEN? We can’t just pee by the side of the road.

Loos, loos, loos – and MANY more for women, and as I’ve written before in race feedback, women manning the womens’ loos, to stop the blokes using them.

I ran with my own hydration backpack, which was a brilliant decision because I didn’t have to stop at the very messy aid stations, which didn’t appear to have enough waste bins, given the mounds of paper cups tossed onto the road. Not good.

But thanks to having my own water/electolyres and energy gels, I bypassed the litter and the crowds trying to get water, so I wasn’t directly impacted, but on the return leg of my HM, I passed “aid stations” along Kartavya Path that were absolutely empty – no volunteers, just discarded paper cups and empty water bottles. Not only must that have been a terrible shock for runners, it looked SUCH a mess.

So yeah, having referenced the absence of volunteers just now…I don’t want to sound miserable and overly critical, but the volunteers I saw looked pretty inept. Mobile phone-ing. Not controlling the crowded roads at all. Dunno how much training they’d had, but the occasional youngster standing in the middle of the road was NOT what was needed to keep runners from encroaching on the opposite sides…because (you can see how all these issues are kind of connected?) there were simply too many people on narrow roads, especially near the Oberoi & the Blind School towards the end, when the 10k runners (mainly walkers, to be honest) merged with the half marathoners like me PLUS the marathoners on their 2nd loop…

Which leads me to my next (& perhaps last) criticism…too many races on the same route.

I have nothing but respect for 5km and 10km runners – we all started out like that – but I honestly think they should have different routes from runners who are trying for PBs on what is theoretically a great, flat course. For crying out loud, there were elites running to qualify for the Asian Games (though to be honest, they were too fast to get caught up in the melee!) but there were also many runners aiming to improve their timings on, as I said, a good, flat route. It must’ve been beyond stressful to find empty aid stations and to have to push through crowds of slow walkers.

Please, please, please, let the 10km and 5km participants walk around the stadium, or do a different route entirely…but that, of course, would involve more volunteers, which brings us right back to the start.

Not enough volunteers.

Routes not properly closed and divided. The traffic hadn’t been stopped along stretches of the race route, meaning we runners got half the road and traffic got the other, so we were running in 2 directions on half of the road, with noisy, honking traffic and exhaust fumes next to us. Far from ideal.

Yet again, my heart goes out to runners trying to qualify for important races. Marathoners had the toughest time, having to do their 2nd loop running through and past and weaving in between we half marathoners and then the 10k and 5k people.

Once back at the stadium I opted not to eat, because I saw huge queues for a hot breakfast, when actually I’d have been happy with a banana and a juice. I much prefer getting a box of food – biscuits, fruit, chocolate – because then you can eat immediately, rather than waiting for hot food. I saw a post on Facebook saying that the food was cold, but since I didn’t even venture near the crowded breakfast area, I can’t comment.

So, yeah, what are my conclusions?

Shambolic organisation.

Way too many people taking part in multiple races on the same constricted roads.

Insufficient loos.

Insufficient volunteers.

I was insulated from all the food and drink woes, because I carried my own stuff. Lucky for me, but I had in fact paid for the infrastructure…which was sorely lacking.

T shirts and endless Instagram posts do not make a successful race.

Not sure I’ll do this race again, to be honest. I ran the first edition of the race, back in 2016, when hardly anyone ran and the roads were blissfully empty. Perhaps it’s time to move on to better organised events.

Raj Path as it was then, in 2016, the first edition of the race.