"Racing on the streets of Birmingham will be the best opportunity for me to redeem myself" - Rio Olympic athlete Nitendra Singh Rawat outlines his strategy for CWG 2022

Rio Olympics marathon athlete Nitendra Singh Rawat is excited to compete in the men's marathon race at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Given that the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has a limited quota of 36 athletes for the Games, 35-year-old Rawat is possibly a little lucky to have earned a place in the competition. This is because India does not have a rich history in marathon running

The Indian marathon runner spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda, where he talks about redeeming himself in Birmingham.

“Racing on the streets of Birmingham will be the best opportunity for me to redeem myself as there have been frustrating times in the past due to injuries."

Rawat won the Delhi Marathon Race in March this year, completing his race in two hours, 16 minutes and 05 seconds. It was better than the CWG qualifying time set at two hours, 18 minutes and 40 seconds.

Rawat had limited options to compete in marathon races in the post-pandemic era. He spoke of the challenge of proving himself in these tougher conditions while talking from his training base in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand.

“Delhi marathon was good chance and I’m happy to have made the cut."

In addition to Rawat, three other marathon runners, including armyman Sruni Bugatha, qualified for the CWG. However, 35-year-old Rawat is the leading runner, getting the nod ahead of the others from the AFI's selection panel.

Formerly a track runner, Rawat switched to marathon racing in 2015. He won the South Asian Games marathon title next year by completing the race in two hours, 15 minutes and 18 seconds in Guwahati, Assam.

He went on to qualify for the Rio Olympics in Brazil. However, Rawat pulled his hamstring during the race and prodded home to a bottom-half finish at the quadrennial event.

Despite rehabilitation he wasn’t able to regain his lost form in 2017, and it turned out to be another frustrating year for Rawat. He also had to pull out of the 2017 London World Athletics Championships due to a niggle.

He spent much of 2018 working on his fitness and was rewarded in the first half of 2019. He raced the prestigious London Marathon in April, but July/August proved to be a difficult time as he dogged injuries and missed training.

“Racing London marathon in April was an invaluable experience. I learned the importance of good warmup before the race from other leading runners of the world,” Rawat recalled. “But recurring hamstring injury in July/August spoiled my chances of competing at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships in Qatar.”

During the pandemic in 2020, Rawat again worked tirelessly to regain his fitness and waited for an opportunity to test himself. The rescheduled 2021 Boston Marathon in October was a good chance, but the hilly course denied him a good time.

“Since I had practiced on a flat course in Ranikhet, the hills of the Boston Marathon race course virtually killed me,” Rawat added. “It was another good lesson to remember.”

At the Boston Marathon, the Indian runner clocked two hours and 22 minutes to finish 31st in a highly competitive field.

Rawat isn’t expecting miracle at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, but is hopeful of improving his personal best of two hours 15 minutes and 18 seconds clocked nearly six years ago in Assam.

“The weather will be good in Birmingham for distance running, but it would all depend on the course to clock good time,” he explained.

Predicting a good time in a marathon, the longest footrace that features in the Olympic Games, is the hardest task.

“The unpredictable nature of the marathon race makes it more interesting because sometimes even the best in the business isn’t able to stay focused for the 42km distance,” Rawat opined.

Solo long runs of over 30km in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand has toughened the elite marathon runner.

“We have a big group of distance runners but the majority of them have a cross country background. They don’t log more than 20km on weekends in practice,” Rawat added. “Hence most of the time I have to practice long runs of over 20km all alone. It’s challenging but key to marathon training.”

Group running for marathon training is missing in India, but it is certainly a big advantage.

“Marathon training is tough and demanding. During long runs, camaraderie between fellow runners makes the punishing schedule a fun run,” he said before heading for his practice.