Uttam, 32, runner-up in the last edition, clocked 2 hours 32 minutes 1 second to win the third marathon title of his career. He finished ahead of his colleague and defending champion Krishna Basnet (2 hours 32 minutes 40 seconds) by 39 seconds. Rajan Khatri of the same team finished third with a timing of 2 hours 33 minutes 54 seconds. Uttam had earlier won the second edition of Real Kathmandu Marathon in 2008 and the Pokhara Marathon the same year.
The top three finishers will bag a purse of Rs 100,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively along with trophies. Bhumi Raj Rai, Purna Tamang, Dip Bahadur Dhega, Ram Bahadur Bhandari, Man Bahadur Thapa, Bed Bahadur Sunuwar and Narayan Deshar rounded out the top ten. Rai and Deshar are the athletes of Nepal Police Club while all the other belong to Army. Besides this, Army runners also clean swept the half marathon winning top four positions.
The win was however unexpected to Uttam. ´I had just fixed my eyes on securing top five positions as I had trained just for 40 days,´ said Uttam who hails from Haramtari, Gorkha. ´I was expecting my club-mates either Letter Singh Khatri or Krishna Basnet to win the first position, but I managed to continue the early lead until the finish.´
The regular participant of the marathon since first edition back in 2007, Uttam was forced to skip the 2011 edition owing to his duty in the force. He has never returned empty handed since the first edition. Uttam secured bronze in 2009, silver in the following year and bronze in last edition.
Uttam, also the participant of Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon in 2007 and 2009 said that his future target will be on improving the timing. Meanwhile runner-up Basnet expressed displeasure with his timing and position. ´I was focused on defending the title and had put great effort in training,´ Basnet said.
Sonu Jaya Rai of APF completed the distance in 3 hours 36 minutes 44 seconds to win the women"s category in her maiden participation. The other participant Ngini Kumari Lama quit the race. Champion Rai will bag a purse of Rs 100,000.
Despite the victory, 27-year-old Rai who hails from Solukhumbu, shared that she failed to meet her expected timing. Holder Krishneshwari Shintakala of the same team did not compete in the race owing to her back problem.
The timing was below my expectation and I also failed to meet the expectation of coach Sushil Rana,´ shared a disapppointed Rai, who had won silver medals three times in a row. But she failed to win medal in her debut race in 2009.
In men"s half marathon Raj Kumar Bista, the national champion of 10,000 m clocked 1 hour 11 minutes 51 seconds to earn his maiden half marathon title. Bista finished ahead of his teammates Hom Lal Shrestha (1 hour 12 minutes 8 seconds), Tirtha Bahadur Tamang (1 hour 12 minutes 24 seconds) and Hari Rimal (1 hour 14 minutes 39 seconds) who secured second to fourth spots.
´The first half marathon title will help me to perform better in my own category,´ said Bista, who is currently undergoing national team training.
Meanwhile, Brinda Shrestha of APF secured first position in women"s half marathon finishing the distance of 21.0957 km in 1 hour 31 minutes 45 seconds. Sarita Basi of Army stood runner up clocking 1 hour 43 minutes 54 seconds while Narayan Devi Singh of Kathmandu took home the third place honor clocking 1 hour 45 minutes 30 seconds. Top three finishers of both men"s and women"s category will bag a purse of Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.
Kalyan Baniya (16 minutes 46.1 seconds) of Army secured top position of men"s 5 km race coming ahead of Laxman Malla Thakuri and Kiran Malla of APF. Bishwa Rupa Bhuda (20 minutes 7.2 seconds) of Army, Kanchhi Maya Koju and Laxmi Pandey of APF secured top three positions in women"s 5 km race.
Bharat Adhikari took home men"s 2.5km men"s wheelchair title finishing ahead of Krishna Raj Adhikari and Raju Katuwal. Similarly, Jyoti Aryal, Yani Jhakrimar and Sonika Dhakal (18:18.2) secured top three positions in the women"s section. Altogether 18 differently-abled athletes competed in the category.
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