Ramesh, Prajakta emerge winners in Hyderabad Half Marathon

Hyderabad: Telangana’s B Ramesh Chandra and Prajakta Godbole of Maharashtra won the men’s and women’s titles in the Hyderabad Half Marathon on Sunday.

Ramesh cracked the 21.1 kms in one hour 13 minutes and 10 seconds to be crowned champion, while Satish Kumar (1.15:50) and Piyush Masane (1.16:56) tailed him to the finish line to take the other two positions on the podium in the category.

Among women, 28-year-old Prajakta underlined her reputation as one of India’s top distance runners by covering the half marathon distance in an impressive one hour 23 minutes and 45 seconds.

Preenu Yadav (1.24.46) and TejaswiniUmbkane (1.25:11) grabbed the second and third places behind her.

Cricketing icon and brand ambassador of Ageas Federal Life Insurance, Sachin Tendulkar flagged off over 8,000 runners at the crack of dawn, making the Hyderabad Half Marathon one of the biggest running events in southern India.

Later, Tendulkar and India’s chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand felicitated the winners. “I congratulate the winners of this edition of the Hyderabad Half Marathon. I am pleased to see such an impressive turnout and congratulate not just the winners, but everyone who participated across all the categories with the determination to Run Ageless, Run Fearless,” said Tendulkar.