Vasai Virar Marathon: Mohit Rathore wins full marathon

Mohit Rathore won the full marathon, while Armyman Anish Thapa set a new half marathon course record in the 9thIndiabulls Home Loans Vasai Virar Mayor's Marathon 2019 held here on Sunday.

Rathore, a 2017-runner up, was on track to set a new course record in the full marathon when he crossed the half- way mark in a time of 1:06.

However, rising temperature made him flag a bit in the second half, before finishing in 2:24.22, followed by Sukhdev Singh in 2:31.42 and Dharmender in 2:32.39.

"With some more competition, I could have finished much faster. I was on course for a 2:20 finish, but could not maintain the pace while running alone," Rathore said.

He added that he would try to meet the Olympics qualifying time in the upcoming events.

Half marathon winner Anish Thapa breasted the tape in 1:04.37, shaving off 19 second from G Lakshmana's course record of 1:04.56 set in 2014.

He later said he did not expect to break the course record and it was not on his mind.

"But I got into a good rhythm early and because of my fellow runners also pushing me throughout the race, I could maintain the pace," he said.

Thapa led Navy's Tirtha Pun and fellow Army runner Dinesh Kumar under the mark in the half marathon.

Tirtha Pun clocked 1:04.42, while Dinesh Kumar followed him in 1:04.46.

Women's half marathon also saw excellent performances, with Kiran Sahdev from Railways taking top spot in 1:17.51, followed by Komal Jagdale in 1:18.24 and Nandini Gupta (1:19.13).

Sahdev clocked her personal best and claimed confidently that she could have run faster had she pushed herself, but she did not want to go all out and risk injury as it is the end of the season.

While Rathore went home richer by Rs 2.5 lakh, the men's and women's half marathon winners took home Rs 1.25 each respectively.

The event was held in association with Manipal Cigna.