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Titus Kariuki triumphs in Hyderabad Marathon

Titus, who has now won six marathons across the world feels the Hyderabad Marathon is the toughest he has participated in
Hyderabad: Kenya’s Titus Kariuki and India’s Jyoti Gawate won the men’s and women’s events respectively at the fifth edition of the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon organised by the Hyderabad Runners Society in association with Digital Telangana, an initiative of the state government, in the city on Sunday.
Titus (02:32.18), who was among the 10 foreign elite runners to start the run, edged past compatriot Daniel Laugat (02:32.43) in a thrilling finish to claim the top prize.
Bhanupratap Singh was a distant third in 2:46.19 hours.
Titus, who has now won six marathons across the world feels the Hyderabad Marathon is the toughest he has participated in. “After having competed in various marathons I can easily say that this is the toughest. I say that mainly because of the uphill terrain on the route,” the Kenyan said.
“I had to push myself really hard to win especially with Daniel running really close. In the end it was a very close encounter and I am happy to have prevailed,” Titus added.
What does it take to win a 42. 195 kilometres event? “Simple hard work and a lot of sacrifice. We run close to 40 to 50 kilometres six days a week. We give our bodies a much-needed break on Sundays. We also take proper care of our diet during training,” he said.
Jyoti (3:05.54) comprehensively outran Kenya’s Ruth Mbogo (3:20.34) by 15-and-a-half minutes to claim the women’s full marathon. Jyothi grabbed the lead in the initial stages of the run and never looked back. Seema, who completed the event in 3:48.11, was placed third. Five foreign female nationals participated in the elite class.
Srinivas Bhugatha claimed the men’s half-marathon (21.095 kms) in 1:10.21 hours while Kenya’s Daniel Langat was second in 1:12.1 and Kunal Kumar Yadav (1:16.17) was third.
Meanwhile, Nagpur’s Jyoti Jagbahadur Chouhan successfully defended her women’s half-marathon crown in 1:26.4 hours. Jyothi outclassed Nilam Rajput (1:28.23) and Shubha Bhargava (1:40.37) to the title.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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