Mumbai Marathon: Meerut girl Parul breaks course record in 21k race

MUMBAI: It was a day to remember for Meerut girl Parul Chaudhary, who won the women's elite half marathon, clocking 1:15: 37 at the Tata Mumbai Marathon here on a pleasant Sunday morning. She broke the course record in the process.
Aarti Patil and Monika Athare secured the second and third positions respectively, clocking 1:18:03 and 1:18:33. Apart from the winner's purse of Rs1,50,000, Parul took home another Rs150,000 as bonus amount for her course record jackpot.
"This was my first attempt in the half marathon in Mumbai.In 2017, I had run the full marathon, but I generally do the 21K. I only wanted to see where my level of endurance stands," said the 24-year-old, who is employed with Western Railways in the city.
Parul, nevertheless, has clocked better timings in the half marathon. She ran the 2018 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in a personal best of 1:13:09. She regretted the lack of better competition on Sunday, saying: "I broke away after the first kilometre itself, but I could have achieved a better timing if someone had challenged me."
With 2020 being the Olympic year, all national level athletes are eyeing a place in the Tokyo-bound squad.
Towards this goal, Parul will be competing in the 3000m steeplechase events in the coming months.
"In March, we have the Indian GP and in April we have the Federation Cup. I will be doing the 3000m steeplechase in them," she said. "The Olympic qualification time is 9:30:00 and I will try to make the cut."
However, the going won't be easy given the experienced Sudha Singh's presence in the steeplechase. "Sudha didi has a very good time in steeplechase. Her best is 9:26 and mine is 9:56, so there is a vast difference, but I will try harder this time and will leave the rest to God," said Parul.
In the men's elite half marathon, Tirtha Pun emerged the winner, finishing the race in 1:05:39. Securing the runners-up position was Man Singh, who clocked 1:06:06. Balliappa AB finished third with a timing of 1:07:11.