Bahadur and Jyothi wins men's and women's marathon

Dhoni won in a time of 2:29.10s from Satyabhan Singh and Hethram. Gawate, on her part, romped home, clocking 2:59.37s and made Jyothi Singh settle for the second place twice in a row.

Bahadur Singh Dhoni, the elite men's winner at the Shriram Properties Bengaluru Marathon reacts after completing his marathon here on Sunday.

Bahadur Singh Dhoni and Jyothi Gawate broke little sweat in winning the men’s and women’s full-marathons respectively at the Shriram Properties Bengaluru Marathon here on Sunday. Dhoni won in a time of 2:29.10s from Satyabhan Singh and Hethram. Gawate, on her part, romped home, clocking 2:59.37s and made Jyothi Singh settle for the second place twice in a row.

In the half-marathon event, B. Srinu and Priti Lamba were the victors. The winners’ timings clocked in both the elite men’s and women’s marathons were slower by nearly five minutes and three minutes respectively from last year. Both Dhoni and Gawate pointed to the absence of any serious competition to push them as the prime reason.

Nowhere was it as pronounced as in the women’s category. Only two finished the race and among them Gowate came out a whopping 28 minutes in front and was still three minutes slower than her winning time last year.

"I am happy that I have won, but the timing is not something I am satisfied with," said Gawate, a Havaldar with Mumbai Police. "This is nowhere close to my best. I had managed a 1-2 km lead in the start itself, and from there on there was no one to push me."

The men fared marginally better. Dhoni and Satyabhan, both Havaldars, the former from the Army Sports Institute in Pune and the latter from Army's Artillery Centre in Hyderabad, were cautious until mid-way after which they led a break-away group of five. However, nearing the 35-km mark, Dhoni accelerated and Satyabhan, hampered by a thigh strain, was beaten to the first place yet again.

The event’s Brand Ambassador Reeth Abraham did concede that the field could have been better. “Yes the elite category racing should be better.” the Arjuna Awardee said. “But the open category was competitive and close.”The men’s half-marathon though produced some excitement with a dash to the finish in the final 400 metres in which MEG’s B. Srinu, who had finished second last year, beat ASC’s A.B. Belliappa.

The results:

Men: Full-marathon: 1. Bahadur Dhoni 2:29.10s; 2. Satyabhan Singh 2:34.37; 3. Hethram 2:35.00. Half-marathon: 1. B. Srinu 1:08.51s; 2. A.B. Belliappa 1:08.56; 3. Palisette Kiran 1:10.14.

Women: Full-marathon: 1. Jyothi Gawate 2:59.37s; 2. Jyothi Singh 3:27.37; Half-marathon: 1. Priti Lamba 1:22.02s; 2. S. Padmavathi 1:24.03; 3. Tippavva Sanakki 1:25.28.