Kathmandu, February 11

Bhumi Raj Rai of Nepal Police Club won the title of the second CoAS Open Marathon Race here today.

Rai clocked two hours, 24 minutes and 13 seconds to complete the 42.195km race leaving behind two Tribhuvan Army Club opponents.

TAC’s Krishna Basnet, who took two hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds, was only two seconds behind Rai, while another Armyman Rajan Khatri finished third with the timing of two hours, 25 minutes and 50 seconds. Champion Rai earned a purse of Rs 100,000 and a motorcycle, while Basnet and Khatri received Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively. “The competition was highly competitive but I was confident of winning the title. And I am happy for achieving my target,” said Rai, who won the fifth marathon title after switching to long distance race from middle distance four years ago.

Rai is also the champion of 10th Kathmandu Marathon held in Kathmandu in September last year. He also won marathon title of the seventh National Games held in Biratnagar in October 2015. Besides that Rai had won marathon gold during the 40th National Athletics Championship in 2015 and Kathmandu Marathon in 2014.

However, TAC dominated the half marathon bagging top three positions in the men’s category and top two in women’s section. Kalyan Baniya won the men’s category gold by covering the distance in one hours, 11 minutes and 02 seconds, while Ramji Basnet came second in one hour, 11 minutes and 05 seconds and Raj Kumar Bista took one hour, 11 minutes and 06 seconds to finish third.

In the women’s category, TAC’s Bishwo Rupa Budha won gold after finishing the race in one hour, 20 minutes and 36 seconds, while Sanu Maya Karki took one hour, 25 minutes and 05 seconds to win the silver. Nepal APF Club’s Pushpa Bhandari won bronze medal with the timing of one hour, 25 minutes and 56 seconds.

The top three position holders in both the categories won Rs 25,000, 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively, while Budha got a scooter as the winner’s reward.

Meanwhile, TAC’s Rohan Shrestha (40 minutes and 13.79 seconds), Subash Lama (41.01:68) and Suman Pandey (42.10:10) finished in top three positions in the men’s 10km race, while TAC’s Shruti Kunwar (48.30:89), Rekha Adhikari ((48.49:30) and Laxmi Lama (49.57:40) won gold, silver and bronze medals respectively in the women’s 10km race.

In the men’s 10km race for foreigners, USA’s Justin Geesing (50.03.54), Mike Reed (51.10:25) and Gregory D Pipes (59.53:21) bagged top three positions, while USA’s Lindsay Pipes (49.57:35) was lone participant in the women’s category.

In the student’s category, Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya’s Suresh Thapa Magar and Sagar Shrestha were first and second, while Krishna Ale Magar of Samjhana Academy finished third in boys’ category. Bijeshwori Gyan Mandir’s Sangita Khadka, Sainik Awasiya’s Kajal Bista and Bijeshwori’s Sujata Darlami claimed gold, silver and bronze medals respectively in the girls’ section.