Pokhara, February 16:

Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) athlete Uttam Khatri won the seventh Pokhara International Marathon here today.

Khatri finished the race in 2:26:56, only a second faster than his fellow clubmate Arjun Kumar Basnet while another Nepali Army athlete Ananda Kumar Shrestha finished third with 2:32:02. Likewise, Amar Bahadur Shahi of Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club, Narayan Deshar of Nepal Police, Narendra Rai of TAC, Arjun Kumar Basnet of APF, armymen Ram Kumar Karki and Krishna Karki, and Phil Morris of Scotland rounded up the top 10 runners respectively.

In all, 55 athletes including three foreigners took part in the marathon. The top three marathoners bagged a cheque of Rs 40,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively. Other finishing at the top 10 also walked away with cash prizes.

Raj Kumar Bista of the Army club and his fellow clubmate Letter Singh Khatri claimed the top two honours in the men’s 10km race. Aash Narayan Chaudhary of APF finished third. Krishneswori Sintakala of APF won the women’s 10km race ahead of her clubmate Surya Maya Rai. Hari Devi Rajlawat of Bhaktapur claimed the third spot. The top three winners in 10km race got Rs 7,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively. In total 236 athletes — 175 men and 61 women — ran the 10km race.

Bharat Baniya, Prem Bahadur Thapa and Raj Kumar Khatri claimed the top three spot in the 400m wheel chair race. Bharat Baniya also won the 100m wheel chair race ahead of Hem Gurung and Jhalak Adhikari. Diwas Ale, Sundar Limbu and Abish Adhikari finished first, second and third respectively in the Visually Impaired category.

Pravin Deshar won the school-level boys’ 10km race. Deepak Deshar and Dil Bahadru Khatri ended up second and third respectively. Sarita Bakhi won the girls’ 10km section ahead of Rakhi Sharma and Manisha Adhikari. Top three winners in the school-level race received Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 respectively. In all, 320 boys and 110 girls took part in the race.

Dinanath Baral, Prem Neupane and Ek Raj Giri claimed the top three position in the five-km men’s run organised for the media persons. Susma Poudel, Durga Adhikari and Deepa Regmi finished first, second and third in the women’s five-km run.

Tol Bahadur Gurung won the five-km veterans’ race ahead of Dabal Singh Pun and Tulsi Ram Sharma. Member secretary of the National Sports Council Jeevan Ram Shrestha gave away the prizes to the winners.