Gopi Chandra Parki of Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club and Reshu Basnet of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) won the sixth Kantipur-Hero Half Marathon here on Friday.

Parki won the 21.1km race in 1 hour, 8 minutes and 29 seconds in the annual event organised to mark the 23rd anniversary of the Kantipur Publications. Shankar Man Thapa of Indian Army finished second with the timings of 1:08:40 followed by Lal Bahadur Thapa of TAC in 1:09:10. In all, 1064 athletes took part in the men’s half marathon.

“This was my third participation in the event and I am happy to win the title in third attempt after finishing second and third previously,” said Parki, who recently finished sixth in the 10,000m at 12th South Asian Games in India. “I will now focus my attention on middle distance running,” said the 26-year-old athlete from Dhangadi.

Defending champion and Nepal’s lone athletics medallist at the 12th SA Games Hari Kumar Rimal surprisingly finished fourth with the timings of 1:09:50. The Army athlete had won bronze medal in 5,000m at the SA Games. Laxman Malla Thakuri (1:09:52) and Raj Kumar Bista ended up in fifth and sixth positions.

TAC athlete Reshu timed 1:28:20 to win the women’s half marathon ahead of her teammates Sanu Maya Karki (1:30:06) and Sarita Basi (1:31:09). It was the second half marathon title for the 21-year-old after winning the 21.1km event of the Kathmandu Marathon last year.

“I am really pleased to win the two events that I took part in,” she said. Reshu said she in planning to shift her attention towards marathon itself. A total of 98 athletes were in fray for the women’s half marathon title. Pushpa Bhandari (1:31:29), Saraswoti Rai (1:33:18) and Sonu Jaya Rai (1:33:30) finished in fourth, fifth and sixth places.

Top six runners in half marathon in both categories won Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000, Rs 20,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively. The half marathons started from the Kantipur Publications office in Tinkune en route to Koteshwor, Bhaktapur, Sallaghari, Surya Binayak, Jagati and back to the starting point at Tinkune.

The organisers had set aside a Dash Scooter prize for athletes setting the new course record but no was was able to achieve the record.

Ram Bahadur Tamang won the men’s 3km Wheel Chair Race. Raju Katawal ended up second and Prem BK third. Lali Tamang, Rajani Rai and Yami Jhakri Magar claimed the top three positions in the women’s category.

Hareram Nepal, Damodar Budha Magar and Sher Bahadur Tharu won the top three places in the men’s category of the 5km Corporate-Media Race. Santoshi Shrestha, Humi Budha Magar and Urmila Maharjan claimed the top three positions in the women’s category. Top three winners in both the Wheel Chair and Corporate-Media Races won Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 each.