The 29th edition of the Thane Mayor Varsha Marathon on Sunday brought much disappointment for women participants, after they found out that they were barred from running the 21-km stretch and could only take part in the 15-km category. But there were several who were not going to take no for an answer, and ran the whole stretch anyway.

Accepting this as a fault of the civic management committee, the Thane Mayor has assured that the 21-km category will be made open to women next year. The marathon, which saw participation from over 21,000 people, had three categories - 10 km and 21 km for the men, and 15 km for the women.