Lakshmanan, Monika win half marathon titles

Lakshmanan G and Monika Athare were the best Indians at the Delhi half marathon in November last year. And, the script remained the same at half marathon in the city on Sunday.

Lakshmanan, who hails from Tamil Nadu, attained the distance of 21.097 kilometers in 01:05.05 to eclipse the timings of second-placed Sachin Patil (01:06.22) and defending champion Deepak Kumbhar (01:06.28).

Contrary to what the full-distance runners felt, the trio found no problems with the weather, perhaps because of the early 5:40 am start. "The weather was ek number," Lakshmanan said.

Patil, who works as a Ticket Collector for Central Railways, said everyone knew Lakshmanan would win the race.

In the women's event, Nashik girl Ahare spoke about not being able to compete in the full marathon. "I couldn't compete in the full marathon because of my packed schedule," said Ahare, who finished third last season.

Meanwhile, Minakshi Patil, who was contesting in just her fourth race, emerged the surprise runner-up with a timing of 01:20.53. Ladakh's Anuradha Singh — competing here for the first time — finished third with a timing 01:25.20.

She missed flight, won race

Ladakh's Anuradha Singh, who finished third in the women's half marathon, missed her plane to Mumbai. She, then, had to board another flight to compete at the event