Arjun Kumar Basnet of Nepal Army (NA) failed to defend his title as he completed the race 3 minutes 18 seconds later than Dhakal to finish second. Basnet clocked 2 hours 35 minutes 9 seconds, which was 9 minutes more than his timing last year. [break]
However, Dhakal´s timing was 3 minutes 30 seconds faster than in the previous edition. Dhakal had finished fifth in last year´s marathon.
Amar Bahadur Shahi of APF secured third position completing the 42.195 km race in 2 hours 40 minutes 20 seconds.
Likewise, Ram Bhandari, Purna Tamang, Hom Lal Shrestha, Rajan Khatri, Chandra Bahadur Mahato, Moire O´Sullivan, Ram Kumar Khatri, Raj Kumar Basnet and Sudip Kulung claimed the fourth to tenth positions.
Dhakal, a double gold medalist of the Fifth National Games, expressed joy to Republica on winning the title. "I am happy with my performance and would like to share this moment with everybody. My improvement in timing is also satisfying," said Dhakal.
Winner Dhakal will receive Rs 100,000 while Basnet and Shahi will bag Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively.
Similarly, Sintakala clinched the women´s title completing the marathon in 3 hours 31 minutes 47 seconds. It was 20 minutes slower than her timing in the previous edition, when she had finished second behind Kanchhi Maya Koju.
Her colleague Sonu Jaya Rai stood second clocking 3 hours 33 minutes 8 seconds and Sujata Pradhan of Nepal Army completed the race in 3 hours 37 minutes 43 seconds for third position.
"I am happy to win the title in the third attempt and would like to dedicate the victory to my father, mother, friends and APF coach Sushil Narsingh Rana," said Sintakala.
Bhawana Shahi, Mati Kauri, Saraswati Khadka, Victoria Hughes and Pratiksha Dulal finished from fourth to eighth positions.
The top three female athletes of the marathon will receive Rs 100,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively.
Bhumi Raj Rai of Nepal Police Club (NPC), Gyan Prasad Bhattarai and Jit Bahadur Dhami (NA) grabbed the top three positions respectively in the men´s half-marathon while Bindra Danke Shrestha (APF), Gita Khatri (APF) and Frances Fox of British Gurkha Nepal were the top three runners in the women´s half-marathon.
Similarly, in men´s 5-km open, Narendra Bhatta (NPC) won the title while Kiran Kumar Malla (APF) and Motilal Chaudhary (NA) finished the race in second and third position respectively. In women´s 5-km open, Surya Maya Rai (APF), Rupa Khadka (NA) and Chhaya Khatri (NPC) claimed the top three positions respectively.
In wheel chair (male), Krishna Raj Chaudhary of Independent Living Center (ILC) clinched the top spot. Bharat Bikram Baniya and Tek Bahabur Gurung of ILC finished second and third respectively.
Lal Bahadur Thapa, Dipesh Sommi and Buddha Kumar Ghising in 5-km event for schoolboys and Sharmila Chhetri, Santoshi Shrestha and Laxmi Karki in girls´ section claimed medals.
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