NAMSAI, 1 Feb: George Nganga Kimotho from Kenya and Ethiopia’s Genet Shikur Reshid won the men’s and the women’s full marathon, respectively, at the 2nd Golden Pagoda Marathon held here on Sunday.
Kimotho took 2-hr, 19 mins and 13 secs to complete the race, while Reshid won the race with a time of 2 hr, 55 minutes and 38 seconds.
Amuma Terefe Seifu and Tsegaye Molla, both from Ethiopia, finished second and third, respectively, in the men’s full marathon. Seifu finished the race with a time of 2 hr, 21 mins, and 26 secs, while Molla complete it in 2 hr, 21 mins, and 23 secs.
In the women’s full marathon, the second and third positions were claimed by Senait Kefelegn Lesharge (02:57:13) and Firehiwot Shemsu (02:58:06), both from Ethiopia, respectively.
In the women’s half-marathon (21 km), Km Jyoti emerged victorious with a time of 01:18:42. Tejaswini Lambkane finished second in (01:20:49), while Makakmayum Minarashi secured third place with a time of 01:27:52.
The men’s half-marathon (21 km), Rahul Yadav won the first position (01:08:42), followed by Dulu Sarkar in second place (01:14:38) and Saindurlin Lyngkhoi in third position (01:17:48).
In the men’s 10-km race, Ravi Choudhary won the event with a time of 00:30:24, followed by Shiva Kundu (00:30:30) and Amardeep (00:32:52) in second and third position, respectively.
In the women’s 10-km race, Anisha Bisht secured first place (00:38:09), while Nikita Kami (00:41:47) and Serlibon Teronpi (00:44:02) finished second and third, respectively.
In the men’s 5-km race, Humen Senapati won the title with a time of 00:16:00. Agalumso Tawsik finished second (00:16:59), while Dhormeswar Gonju secured the third place (00:17:03).
The women’s 5-km race was won by Priya Chettri, who clocked 00:18:21, while Joti Mane secured second position with a time of 00:19:11. Yanu Mane finished third (00:19:28).
Over 2,000 runners from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sweden, and 28 states of India competed in the event. The competitions were held across four categories – 42-km full marathon, 21-km half-marathon, 10-km run, and 5-km fun run, along with a special Namsai Run as the pre-event, which further strengthened community participation and local enthusiasm.
The marathon, themed ‘India’s most scenic run with culture’, was flagged off from the iconic Golden Pagoda here by MLAs Zingnu Namchoom and Puinnyo Apum, Lohit DC KN Damo, and Namsai DC CR Khampa.
Eminent athletes and motivational icons like Sky London Book of Records fame and one-legged athlete Uday Singh, the famed Indian flag barefoot ultra runner Shishupal Podder, renowned ultra-runner Ankita Konwar, and many others were present to motivate the participants.
Engineer Joram Lali was the race director. (DIPRO)
