Birgunj, February 29

Khagendra Bhat won the title of the TVS Birgunj Marathon as Tribhuvan Army Club dominated the event here today.

Bhat finished the 42.195km race in two hours, 21 minutes and 07.53 seconds to claim the trophy along with Rs 125,000 and TVS scooter. Rajan Rokka came second in 2:27:39 and fellow TAC athlete and Olympian Hari Kumar Rimal was third in 2:28:35. Rokka got Rs 150,000 and Rimal earned Rs 100,000.

TAC athletes also clean swept the half marathon with Gajendra Rai finishing first in one hour, nine minutes and 49 seconds.

Deepak Adhikari came second just six seconds behind Rai, while Ramji Basnet was third in 1:10:35. In women’s section, Rajura Pachai finished first in 1:19:47, ahead of Fulmati Rana (1:24:30) and Bindra Shrestha (1:28:16). Top three athletes in half marathon received Rs 75,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 35,000 respectively.

In 10km race for women departmental athletes, TAC duo Purna Laxmi Neupane and Saraswoti Bhattarai claimed top two spots respectively, while Nepal Police Club’s Birsana Kumal was third.

In open section, Sakuntala Thagunna, Manju Raut and Khila Thapa came first, second and third respectively.

In men’s section, Kalyan Baniya, Ganesh Thakuri and Tanka Karki came in top three in departmental category, while Sagar Shrestha, Dinesh Bogati and Prince Kumar Gupta did so in open section. Top three athletes in 10km races earned Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

Earlier, Province-2 Chief Minister Lal Babu Raut inaugurated the event organised by Nepali Army’s Central Division and 28 Brigade under the auspices of Birgunj Metropolitan City and Province-2 office of Visit Nepal Year. Chief of the Army Staff, Gen Purna Chandra Thapa and Birgunj Metropolitan City Mayor Bijay Sarawagi among others handed over the prizes to the winners.