With over 10,000 runners taking part in the four different categories, Manipal Marathon 2019 turned out to be the best yet in every way. There were participants from Germany, Nairobi, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia. But the Kenyan runners hogged the limelight in the marathon organized by Manipal Academy of Higher Education and Udupi District Athletic Association.

Ibrahim and Isaac of Kenya finished first and third in the 21 kilometres men’s open category. Parasappa prevented them from finishing a one-two in the race. Binu Peter had Mahakuteshwar breathing down his neck in the 21 kilometre MAHE Men’s race. He eventually managed to win the first place by a whisker. Sudeep was way behind with a third finish.  

Eunice, also a Kenyan, won the MAHE women’s category. Christina and Chitrali came second and third in the race which Eunice won rather comfortably. Even in the 21 kilometres Open event Archana did not have much competition from her rivals and she won with ease. Shalini ran in about 10 minutes later and Priyanka another five minutes.

The day began with a bit of warming up for the participants, and what could be better than Zumba workout. And after the run, there was laughter yoga by laughter guru Mr Madan Kataria for “cooling down”. The Volunteer Services Organization of MAHE also organized games for kids at KMC Greens and there were stalls by Health Sciences institutions to create an understanding of the theme, “Mental Health Awareness”.

Udupi MLA, Raghupathi Bhat welcomed the gathering and spoke about the Marathon and thanked all sponsors. MAHE Vice Chancellor, Dr H. Vinod Bhat said that efforts would be made to raise the level of Manipal Marathon next year by introducing the full marathon. He also said that the next Marathon would be held on February 9, 2020.

Pro Chancellor, Dr H.S. Ballal also spoke. The presence of Commander Abhilash Tomy of Indian Navy, the only Asian to have participated in the Golden Globe Race 2018, which entailed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a non-motorized sail boat was encouraging. He spoke of his experiences to the runners.

21K MAHE Men. Binu Peter 1:19.05, Mahakuteshwar 1:19.38, Sudeep Kumar 1:26.28, Mukul 1:34.51, Ishan Trivedi 1:36.28. 21K Open Men: Ibrahim 1:08.58, Parasappa 1:09.01, Isaac 1:10.34, Pravesh 1:12.21, Lingaraj 1:13.16.

21k MAHE Women Eunice – 1:19.10, Christina 1:24.53, Chitrali Khanna 1:54.55, Josmy 2:06:14, Ankitha 2:10.23. 21k Open Women: Archana 1:27.28, Shalini 1:36.06, Priyanka 1:40.41, Sowmya 1:46.36, Anita 1:48.54.

10K MAHE Women: Priya 46:42, Neha 55.24, Emma 58:20. 10K Open Male: Emanuel 32: 14, Prashanth 32:31, Mikiyas 33:24: Raju 33:24, Vasudev 34:00. 10K MAHE Men: Sandeep 32:32, Sajan Kuriakose 38:38, Deborshi 45:27.

5K Open Men: Basavaraj GS 15:31, Neelappa 15:38,  Chandan 15:50, Prashanth 16:01, Hanumesh 16:02. 5K Open Women: Priya 18:14, Suma 18:39, Deeksha B 19:46.

3 Km High school boys: 1.Gautham, 2.Hanumesh, 3.Praveen Kumar, 4.Yathish, 5.Saikumar. 3 Km High school girls: 1.Pratheksha, 2.Soujanya, 3.Aishwarya, 4.Thanvitha, 5.Shahabadi. 

3 Km Men Corporate: 1.Prem Kumar, Syndicate bank, 2.Sandeep, ICICI BANK, 3.Adarsh, ICICI Bank 3 km: 1.Sharavathi Savanth, 2.K Mahishanamba, 3.Vanaja Prasad. 3 km primary girls: 1.Lakshmi, 2.Priyanka Sanvi, 3.Sridevi, 4.Muttavva. 3 km primary boys: 1.Raghavendra, 2.Atul Naik, 3.Mallappa, 4.Vivekananda, 5.Sachin