Lovepreet Singh of Pune and Ravina Gaikwad of Nashik win Young India state marathon

Lovepreet Singh of Pune won the men's title and Ravina Gaikwad of Nashik the women's title at the Young India state-level marathon, organised by Athlids with the support of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Each received a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a commemorative medal.

This was the second event held by Athlids and drew a good response from across the state. More than 3,500 runners took part in the race, which was held in 11 categories. The air was humid even early in the morning and the route had climbs, descents and turns, so all eyes were on the runners' performance. Despite these tough conditions, only a few seconds separated the front-runners.

In the men's 21 km race, Lovepreet Singh finished first in 1 hour 6 minutes 38 seconds. Raj Tiwari was second in 1:07:16, and Dinkar Mahale took third place in 1:08:40.

In the women's race, national-level runner Ravina Gaikwad and Amruta Patel battled closely until the end. Ravina won the title, covering the 21 km in 1 hour 29 minutes 25 seconds. Amruta Patel was second in 1:29:38. Tejaswini Lambkarne finished third in 1:30:15.

In the men's state-level 10 km race, Swaraj S took first place in 30 minutes 42.7 seconds. Anil Jadhav (31:08.9) was second and Ajay Pal (31:08.18) third.

In the women's 10 km race, Sakshi Pawar was first in 38:45.05. Priyanka Oksa (40:30.05) was second and Komal Khandekar (41:24.9) third.

In the 10 km race for boys under 19, Govind Padekar (31:39.09) was first, Tejas Sapkale (32:49.02) second and Jay Borhade (33:10.08) third.

In the girls' category, Khushi Singh took first place in 39:39.09. Anjali Pandit (41:41.05) was second and Varsha Patil (45:01.04) third.