Army´s Letter Singh Khatri clocked 1 hour 7 minutes 54 seconds to complete 21.1 km in the marathon organized by buddhacircuit.com at the birthplace of Gautam Buddha to mark the conclusion of Visit Lumbini Year 2012.[break]
Another army man Krishna Basnet completed the half-marathon in 1 hour 7 minutes 57 seconds to take the second position while Kalyan Baniya finished third with a timing of 1 hour 7 minutes 58 seconds.
Winner Khatri expressed his delight and praised the route of the marathon. "I´m happy to win the first edition of the marathon held at the birthplace of Lord Buddha," said Khatri. "I´m satisfied with my performance. It was an easy route to run. It would have been better if the organizers had set up more water points on the route," he added.
Winner Khatri. (Courtesy Lumbini Marathon)
Army´s Arjun Bahadur Basnet holds the national record of 1 hour 6 minutes 49 seconds in half-marathon. "I finished around a minute behind the national record. I´m happy with my timing. It was close to my expectations," said Khatri.
Winner Khatri received Rs 50,000 while runner-up Basnet bagged Rs 35,000. Third-place holder Baniya got Rs 25,000.
Likewise, Bishwarupa Budha from Jumla clinched the gold medal in the women´s 10-km race. She clocked 36 minutes 22.90 seconds and bagged Rs 25,000 as the winner. Armed Police Force (APF) athlete Kanchhi Maya Koju finished second with a timing of 36 minutes 29.60 seconds while her teammate Bindra Shrestha clocked 37 minutes 30.20 seconds to finish the race in the third position. Koju received Rs 15,000 while Shrestha bagged Rs 10,000.
In the boys´ section of 5-km school race Raju Shrestha from Bhaktapur emerged the winner with a timing of 16 minutes 1.81 seconds while Bharat Saud from Kailali (16:6.47 minutes) and Akhilesh Yadav from Nawalparasi (16:53.59 minutes) finished second and third respectively. Sangita Khadka from Kathmandu won the 5-km school race in girls´ section clocking 19 minutes 5.68 seconds while Sharmila Chhetri from Bhaktapur claimed silver with a timing of 19 minutes 51.18 seconds.
Winner Letter Singh Khatri with runner up Krishna Basnet (left) and second runner up Kalyan Baniya (right) pose for photo. (Courtesy Lumbini Marathon)
Rina Kapali, also from Bhaktapur, finished third after completing the race in 19 minutes 51.62 seconds. Winners of both sections in the school race bagged Rs 10,000 each while the runners-up and third-place holders bagged Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively.
Meanwhile, Mahendra Maharjan from Kathmandu finished on top of the victory stand in the veterans´ 5-km race with a timing of 16 minutes 37.61 seconds. Krishna Bahadur Gurung from Gorkha clocked 16 minutes 43.73 seconds and Bhim Bahadur Gurung from Dang completed the race in 17 minutes 5 seconds to finish second and third respectively.
In the wheelchair race for the differently-abled, Rahul Kohar claimed the gold medal and Rs 5,000.
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai handed over medals and awards to the winners.
Despite branding it as Lumbini Peace Marathon, organizer buddhacircuit.com considered only the half-marathon as the major event of the first edition. "This is the beginning. We´ll add full marathon in coming years and try to make the event bigger every year," said Bikram Pandey, the chief organizer.
Tourism entrepreneur Pandey also organizes the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon and Annapurna Marathon under the banner of Himalayan Expeditions.
Participants of the marathon. (Courtesy Lumbini Marathon)
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