Defending champions Gopi T and Monika Athare retained their titles as they timed  2:15:16 and 2:43:46  in men and women sections respectively to win the  3 rd  IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon on Sunday. However, both the winners failed to qualify for the Commonwealth Games.

” Face of the Event”, Sachin Tendulkar, flagged off all the four categories of races from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

All Elite Marathoners were eyeing the qualification target time for the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG), and this motivated them to give their best shot.

Rio Olympian, Gopi T, marked the timing as his personal best. “This was an opportunity where I needed to try hard and perform my best. I practised and performed to my highest capabilities, but missed qualifying for the CWG by three minutes.”

“Both Nitendra and I were neck and neck until 9 kms, after which I took over. The weather conditions and the route were also quite favourable,” he added

Gopi T plans to participate in international events including the London marathon to qualify for the Asian Games.

Nitendra Singh Rawat, who stood 2nd in the race said, “Usually Gopi and I are head-to-head, but this time my body didn’t respond and adapt to the conditions. Despite good weather conditions, I wasn’t able to give my best and Gopi took the leap after the 9th kilometer.After seeing the difference in timing, I decided to follow the endurance run method. “I’m not satisfied with my timing, but will work towards improving it to qualify for the Asian Games.”

Bahadur Singh Dhoni, who was the runner-up last year, stood 3rd this time said. “For the first 10 kms, we three ran together, but after that, the scenario changed. I completed my run in 2hrs 24min 56 sec.

My target was to qualify for the CWG, but for some reason, my body wasn’t able to adapt to the weather conditions. I stood second last year with a timing of 2hrs 16mins 9 sec. The weather was good, but I am not satisfied with my timing.”

In the women’s category, after winning the marathon for two consecutive years, Monika Athare said, “Last year in Delhi I qualified for the world championship by completing my run in a target time. This year the weather was good, but I could not achieve my target to qualify for the CWG.

But I am happy that I completed the full marathon despite my knee injury. After 10kms, my knee pain began and I felt the hamstring pull, but it did not hamper my spirit to complete the run.” She added:

“I ran with Jyoti for the first 6 kms. I took a slow start because of my pain, then I gained momentum and started improving my pace. I want to thank my pacer for all his support during the run.”

Jyoti Gawate stood second by giving her personal best this year. “I completed my run in 2hrs 15 min which is my personal best. For the initial 12 kms I was leading, but after that Monica went ahead. I’m not satisfied with the timing, but I have certainly improved my pace and gained more confidence. Both the weather and the route helped me better my timing.”

In the half marathon, unwell Kheta Ram, who wanted to run the full marathon today, last evening decided to switch to run the half marathon. Though he won the half marathon title, he was unhappy with the performance as he felt he hadn’t given his best. His illness affected his timing and performance.

Kheta and Tirtha Pun ran together until the 20 km mark, and in the last kilometre Kheta Ram took the lead, finishing the half marathon in 1:09:40. Tirtha Pun missed the tile by just a second. Deepak Singh stood third; he crossed the finish line and completed the run in 1:13:07.

In the women’s category, Varsha Devi won the title by completing the race in 1:20:30. Kiran Sachdev followed her and completed the marathon in 1:21:35.

After the event, Sachin Tendulkar said: “Delhi is competitive, and I’m impressed and delighted with the response the city has given.  The IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon is a celebration.With teenagers to 70-year-olds participating, this marathon is special, and I hope it continues to grow year after year.”