Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) athlete Krishna Basnet retained the CoAS fourth Open Marathon as runners from the departmental team clean swept the top spots of the long distance race here on Saturday.

The 36-year-old Basnet clocked 2 hours 20 minutes 51 seconds to finish ahead of his clubmate Rajan Khatri who finished the 42.195km distance in 2:28:00. Nawaraj Saud (2:29:59) and Khagendra Bhat (2:38:32) secured third and fourth positions respectively. The race began from Nepal Army Headquarters in Bhadrakali and went through Tripureshwor, Maitighar, Koteshwor, Surya Binayak and Jagati and returned through Thimi, Pepsi Cola, Jadibuti, Koteshwor, Gaushala, Maharajgunj, Nagpokhari and Shahid Gate before finishing at the starting point.

Basnet, who hails from Ramechhap, also set a new Army record eclipsing Purna Tamang’s record of 2:22:19. Basnet, who had finished the same event in 2:22:52 hours last year, was satisfied for achieving his personal best. “I had made really good preparations and my coach (Pushpa Raj Ojha) had also worked hard for. I was aiming to get my personal best timing,” said the first class Warrant Officer of Nepal Army adding that he faced tough competition only until 35km. “Gopi Chandra Parki (Nepal APF Club) was neck-to-neck with me unitl 35 kms but I managed to leave him behind,” said Basnet who joined the sport after joining Nepal Army about 11 years ago.

Winner Basnet bagged purse of Rs 125,000 in addition to a Pulsar motorbike while the runner-up Khatri received Rs 65,000 and third place finisher Saud got Rs 35,000. Army athletes also dominated the men’s and women’s half marathon. While their male runners swept the top three positions, female runners secured first and third positions.

Kalyan Baniya (1:06:31), Gajendra Rai  (1:06:38) and Tika Raj Katuwal (1:07:23) secured top three finishes in the men’s half marathon. Bishwa Rupa Budha (1:17:20) won the women’s half marathon leaving behind APF Club’s Bindra Desar (1:26:12). Chandra Rawat (1:26:32) was third. The top three finishers in the men’s and women’s half marathon were rewarded with Rs 50,000, Rs 35,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively.

Dharma Maharja (1:11:16), Bhim Gurung (1:24:35) and Bhimsen Awale (1:27:54) earned top three finishes in the veteran men’s above 45 years age category. Maharjan bagged Rs 40,000, runners up Gurung received Rs 25,000 and third place finisher Awale got Rs 15,000. Kajal Bista of Mega National College claimed school girls’ 5km race ahead of Kusalla Tamang and Swechchha Balami Magar of Bijeshwari School. Ishwar Chandra Basnet, Bhupraj Puri and Bikash Tamang – all from Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya claimed top three honors in school boys’ 5km race.

Meanwhile, Nepal Army also feted three former Army players – athlete Rajendra Bhandari, para athlete Bikram Bahadur Rana and shooter Tika Ram Shrestha — on the same occasion. Nepal Army CoAS Purna Chandra Thapa and Hansaraj Hulaschand and Company Pvt Ltd Managing Director Shekhar Golchha among others distributed prizes.