The Edinburgh Marathon starts at 0900 BST on Sunday

Leisure leaders at Edinburgh Council said they were unable to guarantee the event would be held next year because of the financial burden.

Geoff Sims, chief executive of the Edinburgh Marathon, said he would pull out from organising next year's run if the council failed to help fund it.

The council said it could not guarantee it would go ahead next year.

If we don't get more financial help from the council then I won't run the event again Geoff Sims Edinburgh Marathon chief executive

Fees of �140,000 for traffic management were waived for this year's event.

The revelation comes after runners voiced concerns over a shortage of water for Sunday's marathon in the capital, with weather forecasters predicting high temperatures on the day.

Organisers have promised 34,000 energy drinks and 60,000 bottles of water for the 10,000 participants of the race. Scottish Water has also donated another 5,500 bottles of water.

Mr Sims, said he now had almost 1,000 volunteers to man the marathon on Sunday.

He said: "If we don't get more financial help from the council then I won't run the event again.

"However, I am hopeful I can convince the council that it is the highlight of Edinburgh's sporting calendar.

The marathon route passes the Firth of Forth

"The Edinburgh Marathon has a �2m economic impact on the city, so the event really should continue."

He added: "I would encourage people on Sunday to take their time during the race as it is going to be hot and not to pour water over their heads.

"We are not providing wet sponges because medical advice tells us that you should not pour water over you body as it just cools the outside of the body and tricks it into thinking it has enough water when it doesn't."

Cllr Ricky Henderson, the city's leisure convener said: "I cannot make any promises the event will run next year because of the problems we have encountered this year. We will have to work on it."

Bill Byers, Scottish Water's network manager for Edinburgh said he was delighted to help, particularly if it meant allaying any health concerns by competitors.

He said: "We look to respond to requests like this on an individual basis as it's important for us to maintain supplies for emergency incidents as well as the cost and resource implications.

"But in the case, it was clear there was a real need to respond to this request as best we could."