Khadak Singh Khadka of the Tribhuvan Army Club is the winner of the eighth edition of the Nepalgunj Marathon held on Saturday.

Khadka clocked 2 hours 20 minutes and 28 seconds to complete the distance of 42.195 kilometres. Kiran Singh Bogati of the Armed Police Force had won the competition last year.

Narendra Rawat of the Nepal Army, who was first runner-up in the last year’s edition, finished the race bagging the same title this year too. He completed the distance in 2 hours 22 minutes and 29 seconds.

Army’s Mohandev Joshi came third as he clocked 2 hours 24 minutes and 36 seconds, while Kamal Raj Timalsena finished fourth completing the distance in 2 hours 41 minutes and 57 seconds.

Khadka received Rs150,000, a medal and a certificate.

Narendra, Mohandev and Kamal Raj who stood first second and third respectively won a cash prize of Rs60,000, Rs30,000 and Rs15,000.

Meanwhile, Santoshi Shrestha from Bagmati Province won the women’s half marathon title in the same competition.

Shrestha, a double gold medalist (5,000- and 10,000 metres) of the Ninth National Games, completed the distance in one hour 16 minutes and 41 seconds. She had bagged the same title in the seventh edition, where she reached the finish line in 1 hour 18 minutes and 48 seconds.

In the eighth edition, India’s Anjali Chauhan finished as first runner-up in one hour 25 minutes and 15 seconds and Nepal’s Anju Khadka stood second runner-up finishing the distance in one hour 36 minutes and 44 seconds.

Shrestha received Rs60,000, a medal and a certificate. The first runner-up Chauhan got Rs30,000 and the second runner-up Anju Khadka received a cash prize of Rs15,000.

Third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh runner-ups received Rs10,000, Rs8,000, Rs7,000, Rs6,000 and Rs5,000 respectively.

In the five-km open category (women), Rajpura Pachai of Nepal Police stood first, Ram Maya Budha second and Bimala Karki came third. They bagged a cash prize of Rs15,000, Rs10,000 and Rs7,000 respectively.

The Marathon was organized on the official route recognized by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS). This is the only marathon competition of Nepal mentioned in the annual calendar of AIMS.

The Marathon was organized on the official route recognized by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS). This is the only marathon competition of Nepal mentioned in the annual calendar of AIMS.