Sable eyes his national record breaking in Delhi Half Marathon

Olympian steeplechase sprinter Avinash Sable will look to break the national record set in the 2020 season by leading the Indian challenge in the men’s section at the 17th Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday. The 28-year-old, who won a silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August this year, became the first Indian to complete a half marathon in less than 61 minutes. He then clocked a splendid time of one hour and 30 seconds and finished 10th overall.

This runner from Maharashtra is expected to perform even better this time. “I have been participating in this event since 2017 and for the first time among Indians I finished third and then the next year I finished second,” he said in a release issued here. The experiences of participating have helped me become a better athlete. I will try to do better than my previous best 1 hour 30 seconds. ,

For the top spot among Indian runners, Sable will be challenged by Srinu Bugatha who finished second among Indian athletes in 2020. About Sunday’s race, he said, “I usually run in (full) marathons. But I have always enjoyed taking up the challenge in the Delhi Half Marathon. Apart from these two, Karthik Kumar, Laxman ji and Man Singh will also be in the race for the title. Each winner of the Indian Elite category in the men’s and women’s categories will get Rs 350,000 plus prize money.

There will be a bonus prize of Rs 100,000 for the new course record. Among women, all eyes will be on Sanjeevani Jadhav, the silver medalist in 2020. In good form after winning gold in the 10,000m at the 2022 Federation Cup, she finished first among Indian women at the TCS World 10km race in Bengaluru earlier this year. Apart from them, experienced runners like Preeti Lamba, Monika Athare, Prajakta Godbole and Nandini Gupta will also present the challenge.