Ace long-distance runner Rupan Debnath added another feather to his crown by clinching the Ageas Federal Life Insurance Kolkata Full Marathon 2022 on Sunday.
The run, organised by NEB Sports, following all Covid-19 protocols, started at the beautiful Salt Lake stadium, passed through the Biswa Bangla Gate before returning to the Salt Lake stadium.
Debnath recorded an impressive time of 2:42.39 on a hot morning on way to the title. Dulu Sarkar (2:46.31) and Nimesh Chettri (3:05.48) claimed the first and second runner-up positions.
The women's full marathon was taken by local girl Tamali Basu (4:01.12) followed by Shruti Agarwal (4:39.15) and Prema Rajaram (5:07.27).
The half marathon witnessed an intense battle, with over 2,000 runners lining up for a shot at the laurels. In the end, Sahinur Molla (1:14.02) emerged victorious. Rishikesh Chakraborty (1:15.58) and Prasant Ropal (1:16.01) followed to take the other two positions on the podium.
Among women, the 2020 winner, Sabina Khatun (1:42.03) grabbed the title again while Anita Das claimed the first runner-up position with 1:49.04. Priyanka Gupta (1:50.38) finished as second runner-up.
In the 10km, Sayan Das (0:34.42), Suprobhat Mohapatra (0:36.29) and Minita Birman (0:37.15) grabbed the top three places among the men. Among women, Shipra Sarkar (0:40.32), Claire Jones (0:42.48) and Sneha Neogi (0:47.09) were the winners.
Over 6000 runners participated in the tournament after a long hiatus of 13 months, following the disruptions caused by multiple waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We are delighted that we could organise an optimum marathon after a long time. The response has been overwhelming. We thank everybody for coming out in huge numbers, Karthik Raman, CMO, Ageas Federal Life Insurance, said.
The winners were felicitated by Sujit Bose, fire and emergency services minister, West Bengal government, along with Dr Rupali Basu, managing director, Woodlands Hospital, Nagaraj Adiga, CMD, NEB Sports and Karthik Raman, CMO, Ageas Federal Life Insurance.