Defending champions T. Gopi and Monica Athare retained their titles in the men’s and women’s categories respectively at the third edition of the IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon here on Sunday but were unable to achieve the qualifying mark for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
While Gopi clocked a personal best timing of 2:15:16, Monica completed the race in 2:43:46. Fellow Olympian Nitender Singh Rawat finished runner-up to Gopi.
This was the last chance for the runners to make the grade for the April CWG.
Rawat and Gopi stayed abreast till the 9km mark before the latter fell behind and, after a point, decided to concentrate on his own race instead of trying to catch up with the winner.
Jyoti Gawate finished second, almost seven minutes behind.
Experienced Kheta Ram, having decided to switch to the half marathon after feeling unwell to participate in the full race, took the honours in the 21km event ahead of Tirtha Pun by just one second. Varsha Devi won in 1:20:30 among the women.
The results: Marathon: Men: 1. T. Gopi (2:15:16), 2. Nitendra Singh Rawat (2:24:55), 3. Bahadhur Singh Dhoni (2:24:56).
Women: 1. Monika Athare (2:43:46), 2. Jyoti Gawate (2:50:12), 3. Monica Raut (2:55:02). Half Marathon: Men: 1. Kheta Ram (1:09:40), 2. Thirta Pun (1:09:41), 3. Deepak Singh (1:13:07). Women: 1. Varsha Devi (1:20:30), 2. Kiran Sachdev (1:21:35), 3. Arpita Vaini (1:31:00).
