KATHMANDU, MARCH 23
Deepak Adhikari and Santoshi Shrestha won the half marathon titles of the Right to Protein Run here at the Dasharath Stadium today.
The Tribhuvan Army Club athlete Adhikari finished the 21km race with the timing of one hour, seven minutes and 33 seconds. The Asian Cross Country Championship gold medallist, Adhikari edged past APF Club's Gopi Chandra Parki, who came second in 1:07:42. Parbat's Tirtha Pun was third in 1:07:43, while TAC duo Narendra Rawal and Khadak Bahadur Khadka came fourth and fifth respectively.
The 13th South Asian Games 10,000m race gold medallist and winner of the Dhaka Marathon, Shrestha from Dhading won the women's section race in 1:20:19. Nepal Police Club athlete Ram Maya Budha came second in 1:21:56 and APF's Pushpa Bhandari was third in 1:23:02. TAC's Purna Laxmi Neupane and APF's Fulmati Rana came fourth and fifth respectively. Top five athletes in both categories received Rs 100,000, Rs 75,000, Rs 50,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively.
The TAC athletes dominated the men's 10km race claiming the top five spots. Mukesh Bahadur Pal finished first in 31 minutes and 18,57 seconds, while Sanjay Shrestha was second in 31:24.14 and Rajendra Rai came third in 31:34.38. Subas Karki and Srikash Rai were fourth and fifth respectively. Top five athletes earned Rs 50,000, Rs 40,000, Rs 30,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.
TAC's Srijana Pandeya won the women's open 5km race with the timing of 21 minutes and 30 seconds, finishing ahead of NPC athlete Rajpura Pachhai (21:38) and Army's Nirmala KC (22:30). APF's Asha Rawat and NPC's Sumitra Kumari Chaudhary finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Likewise, Bishwa Ram Kunwar, Badal Karki, Bikesh Ghimire, Krishna Pariyar and Ashesh Kumar Chhetry claimed top five spots in school boys' 5km race, while Kalpana Budha, Asmita Bhujel, Amisha Rai, Ayushma Acharya and Samjhana Rai won top five positions in school girls' 3km race.
In 3km wheelchair race, Ramkaji Mijar, Ramesh Khatri, Prem Bahadur BK, Deepak Ale Magar and Bishnu Pukar Shrestha claimed top five spots in men's section, while Aishwarya Kumari Kumal, Yami Jhakri Magar, Rajani Rai, Pema Chhokpa Gurung and Babita Thapa won top five positions in women's race respectively.
Top five athletes in women's open 5km, school boys 5km and wheelchair races received Rs 30,000, Rs 20,000, 15,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively, while the top five winners in school girls' 3km race earned Rs 20,000m Rs 15,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively.
More than 7,000 athletes participated in the event organised by Nepal Veterinary Association under the sponsorship of United States Soybean Export Council. The event carried a cash purse of Rs 1.11 million. Agriculture and Livestock Development Minister Jwala Kumari Sah, World Veterinary Association President Rafael Laguens, NVA President Ram Krishna Khatiwada and Right to Protein Convenor Shital Kaji Shrestha among others handed over the prizes to the winners.
