Nanaiah runs to glory

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 11. T.G. Nanaiah of the Madras Regiment Centre was well rewarded for his watch and wait policy on Friday. And, undoubtedly the 35-year-old Havildar was all smiles as he picked up the top prize of Rs. 2,00,000 in the sixth Goodknight- Travancore marathon and led his team's memorable show in the highest prize-money event in the country.

Besides Nanaiah, MRC had two other runners in the fray and incidentally both of them also made it to the top four with H.A. Chinappa finishing third behind CRPF's Durga Oraon and S.R. Basha taking the fourth spot.

``I am happy that I won. But more than that, the fact that my teammates also did well to finish in the top four is what makes me happier,'' Nanaiah said.

Nanaiah was overlooked by many until he made it to the front of the pack and beat an exhausted Durga Oraon during the closing stages of the race. The CRPF Inspector hardly had anything left in him to reply as Nanaiah overtook him in the final uphill leading to the University stadium, the finishing point of the gruelling 42km 195m event.

Among the 104 runners who met the starter's gun, it was Kerala's C.R. Anil Lal, who led the pack for the better part of the race. Going at an even pace he went to the front almost straightaway and even built up a 90-second lead over the rest before he finally slowed down and was overtaken by Jaybhay Dattatreya of Maharashtra close to the 21km mark.

Nanaiah was nowhere to be seen till the end of the first 5km mark before he slowly made it to the 15th spot at the 10km checkpoint. The Armyman, who was participating in his 17th marathon since taking up the event rather belatedly, was placed ninth 6km further down even as Dattatreya, Oraon, Basha, Sumer Singh, Kumar Bora, Vijay Singh and Satish Kumar made up the second bunch behind Anil Lal.

However, within the next four kms, he was placed fifth and stayed there almost right through until he made his move to the front at the end of 40km. In between the lead changed hands twice; Sumer Singh went upfront at the 30km mark before being overtaken by Oraon as the runners prepared themselves for the final onslaught.

Nanaiah placed fifth here in 1997 had failed to finish the next year, dropping out after the first 35km. He had missed last year's event being on duty for the country in the Rajouri sector during the Kargil conflict. Only 33 runners completed the race in this section, which was witnessed by over 2 lakh people who had lined up through the circuitous route.

In the newly-introduced women's half-marathon, Pushpa Devi of Delhi struck it rich as she found her way to the University stadium well ahead of her 19 rivals. Leading almost from the word go, the 24-year-old CRPF Assistant Sub-Inspector finished the race in 1:18.52, almost a minute ahead of Bhagwati (CISF). Bengal's Rina Das was placed third at 1:23.29.

The results: Men: 1. T.G. Nanaiah (MRC) 2:31.28, 2. Durga Oraon (CRPF) 2:32.02, 3. H.A. Chinappa (MRC) 2:33.49, 4. S.R. Basha (MRC) 2:35.30, 5. Appasaheb Desai (BSF) 2:37.05, 6. Jaybhay Dattatreya (Mah) 2:38.37, 7. Pradeep Kumar Saini (UP) 2:42.03, 8. Sumer Singh Rathore (Ser) 2:42.44, 9. B.L.I. Bosco (Rly) 2:43.02, 10. A.K. Sarafudeen (Ker) 2:45.44.

Women: 1. Pushpa Devi (Del), 1:18.52, 2. Bhagwati (CISF), 1:19.51, 3. Rina Das (Ben), 1:23.29.

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