Mukesh’s full effort in half marathon

At the beginning of 2007, suffering from a stress-fracture in both the legs, he had to take a long lay off. Victory, said the 24-year-old runner, wasn’t on his mind but he had entered the race keeping in mind tough competitive season ahead.

“Today’s race was a part of my build-up plan for the forthcoming Delhi event in October. But when the other runners started faltering at the 12 km stage of the race, I made the move — it helped me open up a small lead between the leading group of runners and me,” he said.

Talking about the race, said Mukesh, between the 15 km and 18 km mark he had established a handy lead. “I drifted away from the leading pack comprising the BSF runners that included (RB) Subba,” he added.

However, there was a tussle for the second place. Seeing his teammate Subba slow down a bit, Ravinder accelerated to regain the lost ground near the finishing point. The move, said Ravinder, came too late after he had lost contact with the leader at the 18 km mark. “Thank God, it didn’t prove costly,” he said after winning the second place. Subba was third at 1:08.11.

However, the women’s race went on the expected lines. Pre-race favourite Pampa Chanda decimated the field to win comfortably in 1:23.29 seconds and take the winner’s purse of Rs 1 lakh. Talking of her slow time, the eventual winner said: “The race wasn’t on her schedule. I was preparing for the departmental track and field competition which is some four weeks away. Hence I couldn’t come close to my best time of 1:16.”

Competition was also organised in the junior section. The race had a total prize money of Rs 6 lakh.

Results

• Men: Mukesh Kumar 1:07.24, Ravinder Singh 1:08.14, RB Subba 1:08.11.

• Women: Pampa Chanda 1:23.29, Reena Das 1:24.12, Vaishali Chatre 1:25.05.