Tag: Pune

Updates: Thane/Chandigarh/Pune marathons 2009-2010

Updates on upcoming marathon events at Thane, Chandigarh and Pune, which are not still at the level of the hotshots like the Mumbai marathon or the Delhi Half Marathon, but some of them have been around for ages, so just a heads up.

Jul 12 – Thane Varsha Marathon (check TOI article for details)

Dec 6 – Pune International Marathon (check Pune marathon website for details)

Feb 2010 – Chandigarh Marathon (check Sify news for details)

The Thane Varsha marathon is one of the oldest marathons in India and this will be the 20th edition of the run (Rs 2.5 lakh prize money). Why Varsha? Because it always happens when in pours in the monsoon months!

The Chandigarh marathon will be a first time event, and looks promising with the way the organizers are intending to promote this, and the associated prize money of Rs 10 Lakh, smaller than what the biggest marathons in India offer, but bigger than what most small city marathons offer. I am quite excited to see how this one goes, it is close by for me from Delhi, and very doable.

Pune marathon is more known for its idiosyncrasies, like having cutoffs of 1 hr 30 mins at 21K mark for the marathon, which I must say very few apart from the elite Indian athletes can hope to achieve. Also, runners at last years event went off the route along with the lead vehicle and were disqualified. They have a prize money budget of about 15 lakhs and attracts a lot of international athletes for the moolah.

Of course, the Indian running season has a lot more to look forward to, we are just entering the golden months now. Check out the entire season calendar at:

India Running Calendar 2009

The 2008 Pune Marathon chaos

So, is the full marathon event 39 KMs long, 42KMs or 44KMs!?

Well, for the record, the elite runners in this edition of the event did all the three types of distances, and all due to the mismanagement from the organizers. One set of folks incorrect took a shorter way near the end, another set followed the official vehicle on an incorrect route to run more than the required distance. As as news reports have it, it was utter chaos, even after all those runs had finished! As many as 15 international athletes were disqualified for not following the official route – poor them, probably not their fault.

There were reports of the elite runners running with traffic besides them and sometimes people getting in their way too.

Read the story from Indiatimes here.

Following are the top finishers.

Winners (Men):
Nelson Kirwa Rotich (Kenya) 2:17:45
Andrea Silvini Mathea (Tanzania) 2:17:53
Gudisa Lemesa Angesa (Ethiopia) 2:18:12

Winners (Women):
Caroline Cheptonui Kilel (Kenya) 1:10:17
Agnes Katunge Mutune (Kenya) 1:11:48
Jane Muia (Kenya) 1:12:07

Top Indians (Men):
Bhairavsingh Lone (Railways) 2:23:54
Narender Singh (Services) 2:23:54
Narendra (Services) 2:24:14

Top Indians (Women):
Kavita Raut, 1:20:49
Preeti Rao, 1:21:04
Neelam Kadam, 1:23:56

Pune International marathon on Dec 7th

The 23rd edition of the Pune International marathon will take place on Dec 7th.

Event website: http://www.puneinternationalmarathon.com/

This is one of those events which can really make it big, but have chosen to stay in the past. No encouragement for regular runners with their strict completion rules, only promoting the professionals, still no online registration, still no timing chip. Disparity in Mens and Womens events – men run the 42K while women get to run just the 21K (which men cannot run). Really out of tune with the times.

There is a 10K run as well, and various smaller runs for lower age groups.

Pune Marathon 2006


Well, this one is not for the faint-hearted for sure. You have to be almost a professional in running to even think about attempting it. I was amazed to hear that they have an official cutoff timing of 1 hr 30 mins for the 21K mark for participants to be allowed to continue further in the marathon. Anything beyond this, and you are sure to have your BIB taken off, and basically you are then on your own to complete the remaining distance!

I read today an experience of a fellow runner who crossed the 21K in 1:35, had the BIB cut off at that point, there was no water beyond 24K, and he still managed to complete the race in 4:03! Amazing!

Whats more surprising is that there is no Half marathon event for Men, thats an exclusive privilege of the Ladies.

That said, I would still stand by the organizers with what they are doing, everyone has their own vision of things, and in this case, it seems to be to promote the event for the elites, rather than the common folks (for whom they do have the 10K run).

Pune Marathon results, Dec 4, 2005

Mens Marathon

1. Josephat Ndeti (Kenya) 2:19:35.
2. Gemech Kebede (Ethiopia) 2:20:38
3. Ambrose Makau (Kenya) 2:22:26
?. Jayabhay Dattatraya (India) 2:26:57 (best Indian)

Women Half Marathon

1. Nailya Yulamanov (Russia) 1:15
2. Joyce Kandia (Kenya) 1:17:05
3. Teringo Gelachew (Ethiopia) 1:20:19
?. Gurnule Madhuri (India) 1:22 (best Indian)