The half marathon is one of the tougher event in athletics. Running at speed over 21 kilometres requires extraordinary ability.
In the case of the Namah Nainital Mountain Marathon, which is held 2,084 metres above sea level and includes steep climbs over extensive stretches, the difficulty level increases manifold.
One of the highest half marathons in the world, the event, which was held in Nainital on Sunday, saw huge participation with local athletes forming bulk of the competitors.
Pramod Patni of LIC beat off stiff competition from Puran Singh Dhami to win the seventh edition of the race. Patni completed the grueling 21 kilometre course in one hour and 12 minutes, closely followed by Dhami, who reached the finish line less than a minute later.
Chandan Digari was third with a time of one hour and 20 minutes.
While Patni took home a winner’s cheque of '50,000, Dhami and Digari walked away with Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively.
Patni, who has won gold at the Youth Commonwealth Games, asserted that the course, which had really climbs over extensive stretches, was among the toughest in the world.
“This course is definitely one of the toughest. Runners who hail form mountain regions will probably have an advantage here, but athletes from the plain areas find it tough,” Patni said after his win.
“I have represented India at the international level, but I have never encountered such a tough course.
“However, competing in these conditions will definitely help me to improve as a runner,” he added.
“This event can definitely grow and the organisers should try to rope in foreign athletes for future editions. But even top international athletes will struggle to produce world class timings on this course.”
In the women’s 10km category, winner Arpita Saini clocked 44 minutes. Ruby Kashyap was second while Parvati took third place.
Arpita, who is from Muzzaffarnagar, said that the high altitude and tough terrain prevented the runners from producing good timings.
“My best timing over this distance is 38 minutes, but the conditions here are tough. All the runners struggled to maintain decent speed over the course,” she added.
In the veteran category Jagdish Ram stood first followed by Stephen and Ravindra Rajput.
In the senior boys, Deepak Singh was followed in by Saurabh Badhani and Pawan Kathiyat while in the girls’ event, Gunjan Sanwal, Priyanka Budhlakoti and Banu Priya Bisht finished in that order.
“It was a challenging course. But it was a different experience altogether. Such events help to popularise the sport in small towns like this.
“I want to participate here next year as it was a thrill,” Delhi girl Nikita Bhalla, who missed the podium by a narrow margin, said.
