Gopi Chandra Parki of Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club and Sarita Basi of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) claimed the 11th Kathmandu Marathon titles on Saturday. 

In a closely-contested men’s marathon, Parki edged Hom Lal Shrestha of TAC by four seconds with a timing of 2:23:56 hours. 

The two runners were neck-to-neck when they entered the Dasharath Stadium track for  the final lap before Parki sped up to leave Shrestha behind. Another TAC runner Khadga Bahadur Khadka ended up third in 2:25:25 hours. 

In the women’s marathon competed by just two long distance runners, Basi timed 3:24:28 to win the title. Her only competitor Balika KC finished the race one hour six minutes and 14 seconds after the first position was declared. The top three finishers in both the categories received Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively.

In an event that was contested by 2685 runners, TAC dominated the men’s marathon after Krishna Basnet clocked 1:08:32 minutes to win the race ahead of his clubmates Rajan Khatri (1:09:31) and Tika Raj Katuwal (1:09:50). Another TAC runner Bishwo Rupa Budha won the women’s half marathon clocking 1:20:23 hours. 

Budha got the better of Reshu Basnet who timed 1:24:53 and Brindra Shrestha (1:27:24) of APF. The top three in the half marathon got Rs 20,000, Rs 13,000 and Rs 7,000 respectively. 

Ajit Yadav won the men’s 5km open category clocking 17 minutes 32 seconds. Yadav was just 17 seconds ahead of Ramji Basnet, while Ramesh Magarati ended up third in 18:21 minutes. Phulmati Rana won the women’s 5km open race in a photo finish beating Santoshi Shrestha by just four seconds. Rana timed 20:18 minutes, while third-placed Sanumaya Karki completed the race in 21:50.

Subash Thapa won the school boys’ 5km race in 19:47 minutes and Humi Budha Magar won the girls’ category in 22:18. The 5km men’s wheelchair race went to Ram Bahadur Tamang (10:50 minutes) and Lali Tamang (16:33) won the women’s category.