Ramesh Chandra, Prajakta Godbole conquer Hyderabad Half Marathon

Hyderabad: Telangana’s B Ramesh Chandra and Prajakta Godbole of Maharashtra won the men’s and women’s titles in the Hyderabad Half Marathon here on Sunday.

On a pleasant morning, with a cool breeze for comfort, Ramesh cracked the 21.1 kms in one hour 13 minutes and 10 seconds to be crowned champion.

Satish Kumar (1.15:50) and Piyush Masane (1.16:56) tailed him to the finish line to take the other two positions on the podium in the category.

Among women, 28-year-old Prajakta underlined her reputation as one of India’s top distance runners by covering the half marathon distance in an impressive one hour 23 minutes and 45 seconds.

Preenu Yadav (1.24.46) and Tejaswini Umbkane (1.25:11) grabbed the second and third places behind her.

Cricketing icon and brand ambassador of Ageas Federal Life Insurance, Sachin Tendulkar flagged off over 8,000 runners at the crack of dawn, making the Hyderabad Half Marathon one of the biggest running events in southern India.

Later, Tendulkar and India’s chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand felicitated the winners.

“I congratulate the winners of this edition of the Hyderabad Half Marathon. I am pleased to see such an impressive turnout and congratulate not just the winners, but everyone who participated across all the categories with the determination to Run Ageless, Run Fearless,” Tendulkar said.

To see almost 8,000 enthusiastic runners showing up for the @AgeasFederal Life Insurance Hyderabad Half Marathon 2023, was fantastic. I was personally moved by the grit of visually challenged runners. They are an inspiration for all of us.

Taking care of our planet’s health is… pic.twitter.com/ixS1TOAQ4y

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) November 5, 2023

The 10K run was a straight fight between Chetan Kumar (0.34:21) and Bharat Singh (0.35:13) for the most part, before Chetan surged into the lead to take the crown. Nikhil Erigila (0.35:24) came in a commendable third.

Among women, Sheelu Yadav (0.41:34) was the clear winner, taking the title with a margin of seven minutes. Muskan (0.48:29) and Yankey Dukpa (0.50:04) finished second and third respectively.

Results

Half Marathon

Men: 1. B Ramesh Chandra (1:13.10); 2. Satish Kumar (1:15:50); 3. Piyush Masane (1:16:56).

Women: 1. Prajakta Godbole (1:23:45); 2. Preenu Yadav (1:24:46); 3. Tejaswini Umbkane (1:25:11).

10K

Men: 1. Chetan Kumar (0.34:21); 2. Bharat Singh (0.35:13); 3. Nikhil Erigila (0.35:24)

Women: 1. Sheelu Yadav (0.41:34); 2. Muskan (0.48:29); 3. Yankey Dukpa (0.50:04).