Mashresha of Ethiopia wins Chandigarh Marathon

Chandigarh: Ethiopian long distance runner Mashresha clocked an impressive 2 hours 10 minutes 51 seconds to clinch the inaugural Chandigarh Marathon title here on Sunday.

The winning time of the 42.1-km race was an improvement from the 2 hours 12 minutes 34 seconds clocked by Kenyan Denis Ndiso in the Mumbai Marathon on January 17. Chandigarians came out in numbers to participate in the Marathon, which the city administration has decided to make an annual event. Offering tough competition to the foreigners, the Indian athletes begged third positions in both the Full and Half Marathon races. Flying Sikh Milkha Singh earlier kicked off the Full Marathon in the presence of cricketer Dinesh Mongia, Home Secretary Ram Niwas, Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar, among others. More than 100 runners took part in the Full Marathon, including athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, England, Poland and Germany. Ram Niwas flagged off the Half Marathon, which was participated by 305 people. Bollywood actors Poonam Dhillon, Jaspal Bhatti were also present on the occasion. Union Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony. Ronald came second in the Full Marathon, while Indian Ashish Chauhan came third. In the Half Marathon, Boniface Wambua, Teshfaye and Parmod Kumar begged the top three positions, respectively. Meanwhile, 77-year-old Indian long distance runner Ashish Roy completed his 101st full-marathon in the Chandigarh event. The second edition of Chandigarh Marathon would be held on February 6 next year, organisers announced. PTI