Pal Singh broke Elam's previous record of 2:22:44 set in 2012 to win the race last year in 2:22:38 and pocketed Rs 2 lakh in prize money.
A fierce battle for top honours is expected between these two Army runners in this year's race.
Among other runners who would take part in the full 42.195-km race are Nitender Singh Rawat, Prahlad Sahai Meena, Girish Tiwari, Radhey Kumar, Sunil Kumar and Kapil Kumar, it was announced at a media conference here today.
This year the total prize money has been enhanced to Rs 26 lakh across all categories with the winner of the full marathon for men taking home Rs 2.5 lakh, while the second- placed runner would get Rs 1.25 lakh.
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"The race would be overseen by AFI and would be conducted jointly with the state body (MAAA) and the newly formed Palghar Athletics Association. AFI would appoint a race officer," said a spokesperson for the organisers.
This is the richest national-level prize money marathon for Indian athletes and amateur runners (who will run for 11km), according to the organisers.
The men's and women's half marathon races offers Rs 1.25 lakh each to the winning athlete and Rs 75,000 to the person finishing second.