LUMBINI, March 12: Hom Lal Shrestha of Nepal Army won the Lumbini Peace Marathon held in Gautam Buddha's birth-place Lumbini on Sunday.
Hom Lal completed the marathon in 2 hours 22 minutes that finished at the Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini. Winner Hom Lal bagged a prize of Rs 100,000. "I have practiced a lot to improve my timing in last one year. At first I was bit worried but when I realized I'm doing well, I won it," said Hom Lal.
Lumbini Peace Marathon in March
Gopi Chandra Parki and Khagendra Bhat of Armed Police Force secured the second and third place respectively.
Likewise, Tirtha Pun won the 21km race under the Lumbini Peace Marathon while Ramji Basnet and Tirtharaj Katuwal secured the second and third place respectively.
In 5km race, sunil Kurmi, Tej Bahadur Chaudhari and Rakesh Lodh secured the top three positions respectively. Runners from India, Spain, Jamaica, Italy and China had also participated in the Peace Marathon organized with the slogan of 'following the foot-steps of Lord Buddha'.
"With the success of the first Lumbini Peace Marathon, we are encouraged to organize it regularly every year," said Bikram Pandey, the organizer and chief of the buddhistcircuit.com. "We want to establish Lumbini as a tourist destination in the world map," he added.
