Santoshi dominates Right to Protein half-marathon

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 26: Santoshi Shrestha asserted her dominance in the half-marathon of Right to Protein Run after winning it in the female category of the fourth edition on Saturday. It was Santoshi’s third participation in four editions and the third time she won.

Santoshi did not participate in the second edition (2023) but was victorious when she ran in the first and third editions in 2021 and 2024 respectively. 

Santoshi, who represented Nepal in the women’s marathon in the 2024 Paris Olympics, completed the half-marathon (21 kilometres) in 1 hour 20 minutes and 48 seconds. She had finished the run sooner in the previous editions: 1:14:14 in 2021 and 1:20:19 in 2023.

She was followed by Tribhuvan Army Club’s (TAC) Purnalaxmi Neupane (1:22:51) and Armed Police Force (APF) Club’s Pushpa Bhandari (1:24:21). It was also Army’s Nirmala KC and Nepal Police Club’s (NPC) Sumitra Chaudhary who finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Likewise, Rajan Rokaya climbed his way to the top in his third participation in the event. Rajan had not participated in the third edition last year but had finished the run as fourth and second in the first and second editions respectively.

Rajan, who was representing TAC, won the fourth edition finishing the half-marathon in 1:06:10 and was followed by his colleague from TAC Khadak Bahadur Khadka, who was only five seconds later than Rajan. 

Similarly, Kenya’s Julius Muriuki, who won the Dharan 10K Run in February last year, was third as he finished at 1:06:20; Muriuki was five seconds later at the finish line than Khadka. Army’s Mukesh Bahadur Pal and Sushil Kumar Shahi finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The top five finishers of the half-marathon in both categories received a cash prize of Rs. 150,000, Rs. 100,000, Rs. 70,000, Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 30,000 respectively.

On the other hand, TAC’s Sanjay Shrestha was the winner in the male 10km category finishing at 30 minutes 10.07 seconds. Regarding the female 5km category, APF’s Fulmati Rana, winner of the half-marathon when Santoshi was absent in the second edition, was victorious as she crossed the finish line at 23 minutes and 13 seconds.

In the school-level’s (up to grade 12) 5km male category, Lokendra Bohara finished first after completing the run at 21 minutes and 20.86 seconds. In the school-level’s 3km female category, Ashmita Bhujel was the winner (17 minutes and 30.67 seconds).

Also, Ramesh Khatri was the winner in the wheel-chair male category while Aishwarya Kumari Kumal won in the wheel-chair female category.

The winners received awards and cash prizes from the Minister of Agriculture and. Livestock Development of Nepal Ram Nath Adhikari, National Sports Council’s member-secretary Tanka Lal Ghising, and high officials from the ministry, Department of Livestock Services and Right to Protein Run’s organising team. 

The event was participated by around 8,000 runners throughout eight categories. Except for it, a run-for-fun event was also organised for children.