Tirtha Pun Wins Vasai Virar Marathon; Nurhasan, Prajakta Are Half-marathon Champs

India Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation: Tirtha Pun of the Gorkha Regiment (Darjeeling) ended defending champion Mohit Rathor’s dreams of a hat-trick of titles by winning the full marathon in the 11th All-India Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon which concluded in Virar, in the nearby Thane district, on Sunday.

Tirtha Pun completed the race in 2 hours and 21.48 minutes to bag the honours in the event organised by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation and the Vasai Taluka Kala Krida Vikas Mandal.

Rathor, who kept pace with Pun halfway through the 42-km race, 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 in a time of 2:28.36. Pun, a half marathon runner who recently converted to the longer distance, took home Rs 3 lakh, while Rathor had to be content with Rs 2 lakh.

The men’s Half Marathon 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 seconds behind in 1:04.53.

The women’s Half Marathon 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 third place was Phoolan Pal, coming home in 1:20.28.

The Half Marathon winners took home Rs 2 lakh 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).

The following are the results:

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.