An interesting contest is on the cards when two of the country's best middle and long distance women runners, Sudha Singh and Kavita Raut, battle it out in the half marathon category at the 3rd Vasai Virar Mayor's Marathon in adjoining Thane district on October 27.
The country's best marathoners and half marathoners among men and women have confirmed participation in this national level event, which offers a prize purse of Rs 20 lakh for various categories, a media release said today.
Steeplechaser Sudha, winner of half marathon titles in the Delhi Half Marathon 2012 and Mumbai Marathon 2013, and also India's representative in the 3000m steeplechase at the World Championships in Russia, would look to extend her winning streak over defending champion Kavita who would be back in action after a short break to get married.
The other fancied names in the women's half marathon are Lalita Babbar, Monika Athare, Kiran Tiwari, Rashmi Gurnule, M Sudha and Neelam Rajput, to name a few.
The men's full marathon would see the return of defending champion Elam Singh from Pune-based Army Sports Institute, who would have to beat back the challenge of seasoned long distance runners like Lyngkhoi Bining, Sanaton Singh, K C Ramu, Budha Ram and Angad Kumar, among others.
The half marathon for men is expected to be a very fast race, with some of the country's biggest names like B C Tilak, winner of the half marathon at the Mumbai Marathon, Indrajeet Patel, Ajay Kumar Patel, Soji Mathew, Ratti Ram Saini and Ajay Singh Bir in the fray.
Registrations for the event would close on October 18.
