Dozens won awards in different categories of the 13th edition of the Kantipur Half Marathon convened in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Olympian runner Santoshi Shrestha and Nepali Army’s Khadak Bahadur Khadka won the women’s and men’s titles respectively.

Shrestha, a former 5 km race champion, secured her maiden 21.1 km title with a timing of 1 hour 23 minutes 28 seconds. This was her third attempt in the half marathon category.

In the men’s event, Khadka completed the course in 1 hour 6 minutes 47 seconds, narrowly defeating Kenya’s Julius Muriuki, who clocked 1:06:56. The Nepali runner overtook Muriuki at the Maitighar bend to seal victory in his second appearance at the event.

Gopi Chandra Parki of the Armed Police Force (APF) finished third for the second consecutive year with a time of 1:08:48. The fourth to sixth positions were secured by Army runners Rajan Rokaya (1:09:45), Sanjay Shrestha (1:10:32) and Ramji Basnet (1:10:52).

In the women’s field, Army’s Purnalaxmi Neupane came second in 1:25:57, improving from her fourth-place finish last year. Pushpa Bhandari of APF, last year’s runner-up, took third with 1:26:43. Sirjana Pandey (1:30:57), Asha TP (1:34:01) from India and Manju Sunuwar (1:51:48) completed the top six.

The half marathon winners received Rs150,000 each, while second to sixth place finishers earned Rs75,000, Rs50,000, Rs30,000, Rs20,000, and Rs10,000 respectively.

In the 7 km college run, Ajay Pandey (21:24.22) won the boys’ category, followed by Amrit Bishwakarma (21:31.25) and Bishwa Ram Kunwar (21:56.57). In the girls’ category, Susan Karki defended her title with a time of 29:07, ahead of Ayusha Acharya and Manisha Thapa.

The 5 km corporate and celebrity run saw Bikesh Ghimire retain his men’s title in 18:38, while Rewat Dahal (19:16) and Sher Bahadur Tharu (19:22) came second and third. In the women’s event, Rejina Dulal won in 24:10, followed by Balika KC (24:38) and Kalpana Maharjan (26:22).

In the 3 km wheelchair race, Prem BK and Aishwarya Kumal claimed top honours. Prem secured his first win, while Aishwarya continued her dominance with a third consecutive title.

Ram Kaji Mijar and former champion Ramesh Khatri finished second and third respectively in the men’s category. In the women’s division, Yami Kumari Jhankri Magar and Rajani Rai took second and third, repeating last year’s podium.

Wheelchair race winners received Rs35,000, with second and third place finishers earning Rs25,000 and Rs15,000.

The race, themed ‘Let’s Run for a Greener Tomorrow’, was organised by the Kantipur Media Group (KMG).

The event started from the Central Business Park premises in Thapathali and was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.