Suresh Kumar and Suriya Loganathan struck it rich in the Indian segment of the World 10K with winning performances.
ONGC’s Suresh Kumar topped the men’s field for the third time, adding to his victories in 2011 and 2013 with a fine run that smashed the course record.
Suresh clocked 29:49 and that erased the record of 29:59 set by Kashinath Aswale in the first edition of the event in 2008.
Apart from the winner’s cheque for Rs 2.5 lakh. Suresh also claimed the course record bonus of Rs 2 lakh, making it a profitable day for the runner from Varanasi.
“The weather was very good and my idea was to run for the record from the start itself,” said Suresh, who is in the Indian camp for distance runners at Dharamshala. “I didn’t even know where the others where, I was just focused on my job,” added Suresh, who had topped the field among Indians at last year’s Delhi half-marathon.
Suresh was 13th overall, finishing ahead of Kenyans Kebede Tulu and David Bett.
Army’s Kheta Ram came second among Indians with a time of 30:40 while T Gopi, also of Army, took the third spot in 30:42.
Suriya, winner of the 5000-10000 double at the Federation Cup, dominated the Indian women’s segment, running with determination and poise.
The Tamil Nadu runner clocked 35:58, coming ahead of Swati Gadhave (36:15) and Monika Athare (36:54) to earn Rs 2.5 lakh. Suriya was 13th overall.