Rawat aims to break Yadav's Mumbai Marathon course record

Indian long distance runner Nitendra Singh Rawat on Friday said he is confident of breaking the current course record of 2:16.59 hours set by Ram Singh Yadav in 2012, when he competes in the 13th edition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, to be held here on January 17.

Rawat, who made his mark at the recently held World Military Games and qualified for the Rio Olympics, has been in peak form. He also won the 2015 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM).

"My target will be to break Ram Singh's record. I will give my best to come out victorious. This Mumbai Marathon will give me the right platform to practice for the upcoming Olympics," Rawat said at a press conference here.

"We have been training for the last one year and I hope I will come out victorious here. But there are also other good athletes who will give their best," he said.

Among the other men in the race, Gopi T,. who was placed second at the ADHM 2015, will be gunning for a podium finish in the marathon category here.

After coming first at the Vasai-Virar Marathon last year, Kheta Ram will compete for the title in the city as well. Elam Singh, a 31-year-old Army Sports Institute (Pune) athlete, won the 2nd Vasai-Virar Mayor's Marathon in 2012.

"For the past couple of months we have been training hard and I am confident of giving my best here. If we can give out best here and come out in good timing we can qualify for the Olympics and other races are also line up ahead," Ram said.