Anish Thapa, relishing the cool early morning conditions, set a course record in the men’s half-marathon at the ninth Indiabulls Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon, besides pulling second and third place finisher under the record time.
The Army runner clocked one hour, four minutes and 37 seconds, bettering G. Lakshmana’s mark of 1:04.56 set in 2014. The half-marathon winner went home richer by ₹1.25 lakh and was followed by Tirtha Pun in 1:04.42 and Dinesh Kumar in 1:04.46 respectively.
Kiran Sahdev, the women’s half-marathon winner in 1:17,51, also earned ₹1.25 lakh.
The men’s marathon top place was claimed by Mohit Rathore (2:24.22) after being in a position to better the course record at the half-way point. He went home richer by ₹2.50 lakh.
The women’s marathon (18-35 years) winner Tsetan Dolkar timed 3:10.29 and won ₹35,000.
The marathon, held in association with ManipalCigna under the aegis of Athletics Federation of India, started and ended at New Viva College, Virar and the half-marathon flag-off was at Victor Heights, Vasai.
Rathore said: “With some more competition, I could have done better. I was on course for a 2:20 finish, but could not maintain the pace running alone.”
Thapa, the men’s half-marathon champion, said the course record was not on his mind. He got into a good rhythm early and with competitors close by, he could maintain the pace throughout the race.
Kiran clocked her personal best, despite taking care to stay away from injury at the end of a long season.
The results:
Men: Marathon: 1. Mohit Rathore 2:24.22; 2. Sukhdev Singh 2:31.42; 3. Dharmender 2:32.39; Half-marathon: 1. Anish Thapa 1:04.37; 2. Tirtha Pun 1:04.42; 3. Dinesh Kumar 1:04.46. OR: G. Lakshmana, 1:04.56 in 2014.
Women: Marathon: 1. Tsetan Dolkar 3:10.29; 2. Jayalakshmi Balakrishnan 3:38.26; 3. Nitu Singh 3:39.09; Half-marathon: 1. Kiran Sahdev 1:17.51; 2. Komal Jagdale 1:18.24; 3. Nandini Gupta 1:19.13.
