Calcutta, Dec. 14: Weather. Tick. Elevation. Tick. Course. Tick. Calcutta in winter has won a thumbs-up from the first British winner of the London Marathon as being just right for road races.

Hugh Jones, who won the London Marathon in 1982 and has been associated with road races in India since 2004, also praised the course of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, partnered by The Telegraph , as among the best in the country.

The weather in Calcutta in the second half of December is perfect for a road race and only Delhi compares with it, Jones said. The normal minimum temperature in Calcutta around the time the race is held is 14 degrees Celsius and the weather is usually dry.

"Mumbai is much too warm when the marathon is held there in January. Bangalore is at an elevation of 900m, so the level of oxygen is thinner and people who practise running in the plains are bound to lose a few seconds there," said Jones, the secretary of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races and race director of all major road races in the country.

The other problem in Mumbai, Jones pointed out, is a steep incline at Kemps Corner that the runners hit around the 9km mark.

The strip becomes even more difficult to encounter when fatigued athletes return to it around the 34.8km mark of the 42km race.

Hugh said Delhi, where the race is held in November, comes closest to Calcutta in terms of suitable weather and flat course but the air is much more polluted.

Map it

TSK 25K is India's first road race to have its route on Google Maps.

Runners will be able to see every bend of the route and motorists, too, will know which roads to avoid and possible alternatives. "Roads will be closed from 5am to 10.30am on Sunday. Google Maps will have the route integrated into its system from Saturday," said Dilip Jayaram, CEO of Procam, the organisers of the event.

Help at hand

There will be a base camp at the start and finish points on Red Road, with ventilators in two beds, 25 beds with oxygen support and a few beds for treatment of minor injuries. There will also be seven bike ambulances and three advanced critical life support ambulances along the 25km-route.

"Runners should not push themselves too hard if they are not feeling up to it," said Sanjukta Dutta, head of emergency medicine at Fortis Hospitals, medical partner for the event.