MUMBAI: Kheta Ram is the only male marathoner from Rio 2016 in the fray at the 14th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2017 (SCMM).
The Olympian is hoping to bank on experience to overcome shortage of preparation for Sunday’s event.
“I trained for a month and want to make that effort count. After the Rio Games, I took a two-month break and hence could not prepare as extensively as I did last year,” said the Army Sports Institute runner.
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He finished 26th in the Rio marathon, clocking a personal best 2:15:26s. The ASI athlete from Rajasthan is the name to watch among Indian men at the SCMM on Sunday.
Two others who ran with him at Rio, Thanachkal Gopi and Nitendra Rawat have not entered the Mumbai race.
Kheta Ram hopes to go under his personal best in Mumbai, running with elite marathoners from across the world.
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“I know the course and want to improve my performance, it all depends on how the race unfolds.” he said.
Kheta Ram returned from Rio for a felicitation in Barmer district and is confident the attention will inspire youngsters from the State.
“The Mumbai Marathon last year helped me earn the Olympian label. People in my village and army colleagues appreciated my effort,” said the runner, whose 2:17:23s was the third best effort by an Indian in SCMM 2016.
He is confident about Olympic medals from athletics in future. “Sakshi Malik won a medal in wrestling, Sindhu delivered a medal in badminton. Lalita Babar ran well in the steeplechase at Rio. Athletes can win medals, we need support from society and resources to prepare in a more systematic way,” said Kheta Ram, whose target on Sunday is a personal best timing.
Nitendra Rawat’s 2:15:48 is the course record for Indians at Mumbai.