Have to fund my trip to US to qualify for Asian Championships: Sanjivani

The prize money she accumulated in the last few years from various marathon and half-marathon races came in handy for long-distance runner Sanjivani Jadhav who used the funds to participate in two competitions in the US, which resulted in her qualification for the Asian Championships next month.

The 26-year-old Jadhav clocked 32:46.88 sec at the Portland Track Festival in USA on June 3 to better the qualification mark of 33:00.00 set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the June 12-16 Asian Championships in Bangkok.

"The Federation (AFI) was to send me for training abroad but did not because of some reason. So, I had to spend from my pocket for the US trip. Coach Scott Simmons said I can come on my own, so I went there," Jadhav said after finishing second in 10,000m on the opening day of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships.

American Simmons is overseeing India's long-distance programme and mentoring the likes of 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable, among others.

"The weather was good in the US, which helped me qualify. I had two competitions (in 5,000m and 10,000m) in two days. I did my personal best in 10,000m in Portland," she said.

Sanjivani said she wanted to improve her timing by running in events abroad where she could get good competition.

"In India, there isn't much competition. I wanted to improve my timing by running with world-class athletes. So, I decided to go," she said.

Asked how she financed her trip, she said: "Nobody sponsored me. I financed myself with the prize money I earned from marathons and half marathons.

"The total cost (of the trip) was about Rs 2.5 lakh. The flight ticket cost Rs 1.3 lakh," she said.

Last year, she ran the Delhi Half Marathon, Hyderabad Half Marathon, TCS World 10K Bengaluru and Kolkata 25K.

Jadhav is set to miss the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China as her time of 34:34.10 on Thursday was well below the qualifying mark of 32:30.24 set by AFI.

The ongoing National Inter-State Championship is the final selection event for the Asian Games.