Maharjan, 53, finished 47th in overall. Maharjan had set the target of securing first position in his age category. Maharjan was undergoing special training under former marathon runner Baikuntha Manandhar and Sushil Narsingh Rana for the last six months. [break]
In course of winning the gold, Maharjan improved his last Sydney Matathon timing of 3 hours 2 minutes.
"The winner of Sydney Marathon last year in 50-55 age group had completed the distance in 3 hours 2 minutes. My current timing is 2 hours 45-50 minutes. Thus I am optimistic of securing the first position," Maharjan had said before his departure.
After retiring as a national player, Maharjan has competed in about a dozen international marathons. Maharjan is the 5,000m gold medalist of 2003 Malaysian Open Master and 10,000m Asian Masters Athletics held in Malaysia in 2010.
Maharjan, the proprietor of Harati Restaurant has competed in several other marathons since 2002 on his own expenses. He has competed in Osai Asia Veteran Marathon, Japan (2002), Iwate Kitakami Marathon, Japan (2007), Boston Marathon (2008), Tokyo Marathon (2009), Nagano Marathon, Japan (2010), New York City Marathon (2011).
Maharjan with his wife.
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