Virar, Dec 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) A cool breeze and a more-than-pleasant weather facilitated good running and the elite athletes made the most of it by setting course records and personal bests in the half marathon at the 12th Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon (VVMCM), held on Sunday. Touted as one of the best running events of the country, the event offered a prize money coffer of Rs 58 lakh.
With a timing of 2 hours 18 minutes and 19 seconds, Satara’s Kalidas Hirave missed the course record by a mere five seconds, but won the men’s marathon in style. Five seconds behind Hirave was his close buddy Pradeep Singh Chaudhary. Two-time winner, twice runner-up and course record-holder Mohit Rathore finished third with a timing of 2:19.06.
Hirave, who missed his personal best by five seconds, said, “I was uncertain to run here and had decided to train for the 42 km distance with a friend in Vasai. I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to run competitively.” He won Rs 3 lakh as prize money.
For 40 kms, the top three were within breathing distance of each other. Rathore, who was on track for his third win here, pulled up a little. “My body didn’t cooperate in the final lap. This is the first time I am finishing third. I will be back next year and promise to win with a course record,” he said. Rathore had set the course record of 2:18.05 in 2022.
The men’s half-marathon saw a photo-finish for the top two spots with Rohit Verma of the Navy pipping Nitesh Rathva by a mere 1 second. Remarkably, the top five runners beat the course record of 1:04.37 set by Anish Thapa in 2019 by a huge margin and also registered their personal bests. Verma got Rs 2 lakh as prize money.
Kolhapur’s Deepak Kumbhar, who was in the lead till the 17km mark, struggled with calf pain and was pushed to third place, three seconds behind Rathva. “I lost out in the last 10 metres as I was cramping in the leg,” he said.
The tall and gangly Verma said he loved the route. “The nice climate made running easy and I faced no problems at all,” he added.
Sonika (she doesn’t use her surname), a farmer’s daughter from Haryana and a Railway employee, won the women’s half-marathon with a timing of 1:13.22. It is not only a course record but also her personal best. The old record stood in the name of Ujala with 1:13.33 that she set in 2022.
Bharti, also of Haryana, stood second with 1:13.51 while Sakshi Jadyal was third with 1:14.51.
“It was a good race and had defending champion Prajakta Godbole (tired hence didn’t participate) been there the competition would have been better,” said Sonika, adding that she managed to pull away at the 17km mark. She got Rs 2 lakh as prize money.
“I’m currently jobless,” announced second-placed Bharti who is also from Haryana. “I loved the course and will be back again.”
Jadyal, a college student from Ulhasnagar, received a lot of encouragement from the pilot vehicles and volunteers. Running for the first time here, Sakshi had stomach cramps at 5kms. “I was cheered by the volunteers and managed to finish the race.”
Olympic and Commonwealth medallist Sakshi Malik, who flagged off the 15,000 runners as the brand ambassador of the event, was “stunned” to see the enthusiasm and spirit of the participants among different age groups. “It is good that the young and old are participating in such events. It is important that everyone pick up one sport and continue to pursue it for one’s well-being,” she said while congratulating all the medal winners as well as the participants.
The event was organised by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation and the Vasai Virar Kala Kreeda Vikas Mandal, and promoted by Aryanz Sports.
Results (all provisional)
Marathon
Half Marathon
Men (all under course record of 1:04.37): 1. Rohit Verma 1:03:12; 2. Niteshkumar Rathva 1:03:13; 3. Deepak Kumbhar 1:03:16; 4. Rinku Singh 1:04:07; 5. Shubham Sindhu 01:04:13
Women: 1. Sonika 1:13:12 (new course record); 2. Bharti 1:13:51; 3. Sakshi Jadyal 1:14:21; 4. Archana Jadhav 1:14:50; 5. Tamsi Singh 1:16:36.
Source: IANS
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