Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 1 Oct: Arjun Pradhan of Indian Army won the Tawang Marathon 2023 by finishing the 42-km race in just 2 hours, 49 minutes, and 03 seconds in the men’s category.
Tlanding Wahlang of Meghalaya finished in the second position with a timing of 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 7 seconds, while army jawan Avanish Rawat finished third. Rawat took 3 hours, 8 minutes, and 59 seconds to complete the race.
In the women’s category, defence personnel Priyanka Kanwar won the first prize by finishing the full marathon in 5 hours, 18 minutes, and 41 seconds.
Winner Pradhan walked away with a cash prize of Rs 75,000 along with a certificate, while the runner-up and the second runner-up were awarded Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 in cash, respectively.
In the male category of the half-marathon (21-km), armed forces personnel Prem Kumar finished first, followed by Shivam Pundir and Manoj in the second and third places, respectively.
In the female category of the event, Aarti Bardhan crossed the finish line first, followed by Pasang Drema and Switu Shah Halari.
The Tawang Marathon is the first ever high-altitude marathon race held in Northeastern India, which is 10,000 ft above the sea level.
Altogether, 2,343 runners, including 512 females took part in the marathon.
In the 42-km (full marathon) category, 114 participants took part. Of them, seven were female runners.
In the 21-km category, out of the 314 participants, 10 were females.
Around 1,352 participants, including 473 females participated in the 5-km category.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Mama Natung and Tawang MLA Tsering Tashi also took part in the marathon race and completed the 5-km circuit.
Terming the event as historic not only for Tawang but also for the entire state, Khandu congratulated all the participants of the marathon race. The Chief Minister announced that the Tawang Marathon would be an annual calendar event, which would be a unique marathon to test one’s physical fitness and endurance level at high altitudes. He expressed hope that the Tawang Marathon would become an international event in the coming years.
In his address, Union Minister for Earth and Science Kiren Rijiju stressed the significance of physical fitness and its benefits. He hoped that the Tawang Marathon would emerge as one of the country’s best marathon events.
The event was organized by the Indian Army in collaboration with the government of Arunachal Pradesh.
