Mumbai: Rashpal Singh of Army Sports Institute, Pune ran a scorching race in chilly early morning temperatures to win the men’s full marathon title, shattering Olympian Kheta Ram’s record, in the Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon in Virar on Sunday.
Running a brave start-to-finish race, Rashpal clocked 2:22.04 to eclipse 28 seconds from Kehta’s course record of 2:22.32, set in 2015.
Rashpal’s feat was emulated by the winners of the men’s and women’s half marathon, who came home in record time to make it a grand hat-trick.
It was sweet revenge for Sanjivani Jadhav, who came home in 1:18.02 seonds, breaking Swathi Gadhave’s record of 1:18.35 seconds. Monika Athare, who had beaten Sanjivani in the Delhi half Marathon, had to settle for third place.
The men’s half marathon saw a tough contest between A B Baliappa and Srinu Bugatha, before the former pulled away to win in 1:05.33. Bugatha finished a second behind, while Damor Mohan came in third.
“I am very satisfied with my win,” said Rashpal, pleased to have broken Kheta’s record. “The support from the people was great; the support from the spectators which added to the win came from people across all ages throughout the route. My next target is world championship, and I am sure I would be able to achieve it. I have maintained my pace from the beginning till the end for this race.”
Event Ambassador, Lalita Babar said, “It was an absolute honor being the ambassador of this marathon. Watching the crowd pumped up was a wonderful experience for me. I know how running changed my life, and I am delighted to see so many thousands of people take it up as passionately.”
The full marathon winner Raspal Singh went home richer by Rs 2:50 Lakhs, while Pankaj Dhaka took home Rs 1:25 Lakhs and Satyabhan received cash award of 75,000 respectively.
