Tirtha Pun of the Gorkha Regiment (Darjeeling) put paid to defending champion Mohit Rathor’s dreams of a hat-trick winning the full marathon in 2:21.48 to claim top honours in the 11th National Level Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon (VVMCM), organized by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation and the Vasai Taluka Kala Krida Vikas Mandal, which concluded in Virar on Sunday.
Rathor, who kept pace with Pun through more than half the distance, began cramping at the 30km stage and fell behind, but he still had enough steam to hold his own and finish second in 2:26.43, nearly five seconds behind the winner. Tadakhe Sikandar Chindhu of Champawat, Uttarakhand came in third with a time of 2:28.36. Pun, a half marathon runner who recently converted to the longer distance, took home Rs 3 lakhs, while Rathor had to be content with Rs 2 lakh.
The men’s Half Marathon at the VVMCM was won by M D Nurhasan in timing 1:04.45 just 8 seconds outside the course record of 1:04.37, set by Anish Thapa in 2022. Coming home in second place was Puneet Yadav in 1:04.49, followed by Arun Rathod, four second behind in 1:04.53.
The women’s half was won by Nagpur’s Prajakta Godbole in a relatively slow timing of 1:18.12, pushing behind the fancied Tamsi Singh, who finished in 1:20.09 and in third place was Phoolan Pal, coming home in 1:20.28.
The Half marathon winners of VVMCM took home Rs two lakhs each.
Among the various high-profile dignitaries who participated in the event were Krishna Prakash (IPS) and Vishwas Nangre Patil (IPS), along with the former Collector of Palghar District, Kailash Shinde (IAS).
Following are the results of VVMCM:
Full Marathon (Elite Men): Tirtha Pun 02:21:48; Mohit Rathor 02:26:43; Tadakhe Sikandar Chindhu 02:28:36.
Full Marathon (Open Men): Manoj Kumar Yadav 02:27:25; Nikhil Singh 02:29:53; Bhagatsing Valvi 02:30:59.
Full Marathon (Open Women): Ashvini Jadhav 03:06:38; Abhilasha Bhagat 03:22:48; Nutan N 03:23:44.
(Half Marathon (Elite Men): Md Nurhasan 01:04:45; Puneet Yadav 01:04:49; Arun Rathod 01:04:53.
(Half Marathon (Elite Women): Prajakta Godbole 01:18:12; Tamsi Singh 01:20:09; Phoolan Pal 01:20:28.
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