Tribhuvan Army Club’s Deepak Adhikari and Nepal Police Club’s Rajpura Pachhai won the men’s and women’s half-marathon titles of the 2024 Kantipur Half Marathon on Saturday.

Adhikari, who was a runner-up in the 2022 edition, timed one hour seven minutes and 15 seconds to win the men’s 21.1 km race to claim his maiden Kantipur Half Marathon title.

Rajpura Pachhai defended the title of the women’s 21.1 km half marathon.

Pachhai, who competed at the event for a sixth time, completed the 21.1 km distance in one hour 22 minutes and 25 seconds to win the Kantipur Half Marathon title for a third successive time. It was also her third title of the Kantipur Half Marathon.

Last edition’s winner Army’s Mukesh Pal clocked 1:07:59 to finish second in the men’s 21.1 km race. Two-time winner Armed Police Force Club’s Gopi Chandra Parki was third with a time of 1:08:14 seconds.

Army’s Sushil Kumar Shahi (1:08:48), APF’s Kiran Singh Bogati (1:10:18) and Army’s Gajendra Rai (1:15:43) finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the men's half marathon respectively.

Armed Police Force Club’s Pushpa Bhandari secured the second position in women’s half marathon taking 1:25:34, while Kenya’s Jackline Jeptauni finished third with a time of 1:26:54.

Army’s Purna Laxmi Neupane (1:29:06), United States Caitlyn Schulte (1:51:54) and Sarmila Basnet (2:05:23 seconds) finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the women’s half marathon respectively.

The top six finishers in both categories of the half marathon walked away with a purse of Rs100,000, Rs50,000, Rs30,000, Rs20,000, Rs10,000 and Rs5,000, respectively.

Ramesh Khatri and Aaishwarya Kumal defended the men’s and women’s wheelchair race titles respectively. Khatri took 3:19.09 seconds while Kumal clocked 5:36.05 seconds.

Dan Bahadur Thing (3:49.07) finished second and Ram Kaji Mijar (4:36.03) secured third position in the men’s wheelchair race.

Emi Jhakri Magar ( 5:38.08) secured the second position in the women’s wheelchair race and Rajani Rai (5:46.6) finished third.

The wheelchair race, participated by athletes with disabilities, carried cash prizes of Rs30,000, Rs20,000 and Rs10,000 for the top three finishers.

Bikesh Ghimire won the men’s corporate run. Ghimire completed the 5 km distance clocking 17:15.4 seconds to defend his title. Anil Thapa finished second timing 18:37.9 and Madan Singh Bhat became third with 18:59.7.

Tribhuvan Army Club’s volleyball team captain Kripa Adhikari won the women’s corporate run timing 23:25.7 seconds. Binita Maharjan ended the race in second position with a time of 25:10.1 seconds and Sita Rimal completed the distance in 26:04.6 seconds to secure third position.

Mingmara Singh Tamang and Susan Karki won the college run.

Tamang took 22:02.09 seconds to complete the 7 km distance to win the men’s college run title. Bishwo Ram Kunwar (22:31.02) and Rem Budha Magar (22:51.08) finished second and third respectively.

Holder Karki took 29:55.08 to secure the first position in the women’s section. Rajina Dulal (30:13.9) and Manju Sunuwar (31:15.1) came second and third respectively.

The 12th edition of the Kantipur Half Marathon was kicked off earlier in the morning.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal fired a starter gun to inaugurate the annual running event, which has seen a turnout of over 3,000 participants across four categories this year.