New Delhi, 28 February 2016: The IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon 2016 inaugural edition title was clinched by Santosh Kumar in the Men’s category and Rohini Raut in the women’s.
Santosh Kumar clocked 2:20:51 to win the title where as Rohini Raut completed her run in 2:50:45. More than 7,000 Delhiites took to the streets to experience the Full and Half Marathon in the capital city which was flagged off by Joint Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mukhtesh Chandra Meena at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Santosh Kumar of Western Railways upon winning the New Delhi marathon said, “Feeling good as this was my first marathon since 2010 as I was suffering from pain. With only one chance remaining to qualify for the Olympics, I would like to participate in the London marathon to be held in April.”
He said before taking the race he was not confident that he will win it but when he started to run he got the confidence and won the title after a long while.
Runner-up Sanjith Luwang from Army Sport Institute, Pune was satisfied with his performance. He said that the top three were in a group till the first 21-22 km and then began to fall back. By the time he reached the 35 km mark the gap between him and the Santosh Kumar became huge. He was later able to cover the distance but missed the top spot by few seconds to finish with a time of 2:21:05.
Elite Indian runner Rahul Pal, third place winner, also from Army Sports Institute Pune said, “With a target to qualify for the Olympics, I was leading the pack of runners till the 36th km and then suddenly felt that my body was not supporting me physically.” He completed the run in 2:21:46.
In the full marathon women category, twin sisters from Maharashtra dominated the race and clinched the top two positions. Rohini Raut won the title with a timing of 2:50:45 followed by her sister Monika who clocked 2:55:48.
The winner Rohini Rout from Maharashtra upon winning the marathon said, “Didn’t perform up to the mark since I was expecting a performance of under 2 hour 40 minutes. Given a chance in a month time, I shall be able to achieve my target.”
Monika, who came second to her twin sister Rohini said, “Till the 23rd km we were together, but after that I fell back. Would have performed better had there been a pacer.” Jyoti who came third in the marathon said, “Could have performed better but did not get sufficient time to prepare for the race. I’m here today only 15 days after the South Asian Federation games.”
Half Marathon Men winner Rakesh said, "This is my first marathon as I switched from 1500 m run. My experience as a 1500 m runner helped me win the tough race at the very last moment.” He won the title with few seconds as he clocked 1:08:22 and Satyendra Singh clocked 1:08:26 and Pradeep Singh came 3rd with the timing of 1:08.32.
Half Marathon women winner, Kiran Sahadev who started participating in marathons in 2010 and having won the Rajdhani marathon in New Delhi, Jaipur and Surat clocked 1:19:54 to win the race. Manju came second and clocked 1:21:38 and Monika Chaudhry positioned 3rd with 1:22:12.
Results:
Men Full Marathon - Santosh Kumar – 2:20:51; Sanjith Luwang – 2:21:05; Rahul Kumar Pal – 2:21:46
Women Full Marathon - Rohini Raut - 2:50:45; Monika Raut - 2:55:48; Jyoti Gawte - 2: 57:16
Men Half Marathon – Rakesh Kumar - 1:08:22; Satyendra Singh - 1:08:26; Pradeep Singh – 1:08.32
Women Half Marathon - Kiran Sahadev – 1:19:54, Manju Yadav – 1:21:38; Monika Chaudhry – 1:22:12
