Rajan Rokaya of the Tribhuvan Army Club claimed the Kantipur Half Marathon 21.1 km title for the first time, while Santoshi Shrestha from Dhading secured her second consecutive victory in the women’s category. The 14th edition of the Kantipur Half Marathon, organized by Kantipur Media Group on Saturday, saw a record participation of 4,000 runners—the highest ever.
In the men’s race, Rajan completed the course in 1 hour 4 minutes and 3 seconds, while Santoshi finished the women’s race in 1 hour 18 minutes and 11 seconds to emerge as the champions.
Held under the slogan “Run for Nepal,” the 14th Kantipur Half Marathon was inaugurated by Vaikuntha Manandhar, a legendary runner having won three gold medals at South Asian Games and represented Nepal four times at the Olympics. Besides the half marathon, the event also featured three additional race categories: the Corporate and Influencer Run (5 km), the Extreme College Run (7 km), and the Wheelchair Race (3 km).
Winners in both the male and female categories received a cash prize of NPR 150,000 along with a trophy. Santoshi had completed last year’s race in 1 hour 23 minutes and 28 seconds, making this year’s timing a substantial improvement. For the first time in the half marathon category, an ‘Accurate Timing’ system was introduced, using chip technology for all participants.
