PANAJI
Indian Navy’s Ankit Kumar Yadav and Bengaluru’s Deepika Prakash, a banker by profession, won in the male and female categories, respectively, in the prestigious 21-km open event at the Rotary Rain Run 2024, whose 10th tenth edition was held in North Goa on Sunday, amid the ongoing monsoon season.
Prem Thakur and Ryohei Takahashi (Japan) were the first and second runners-up in the men’s 21 km timed run category while Galina Kuzmina (Russia) and Hansine Benoit (France) were first and second runners-up, respectively, in the women’s event in the same category. Hari Velip (Dharbandora) and Ayan Soares (Margao) topped the male and female categories, respectively, in the Run’s 10-km 18-44 years category.
Over 2,000 athletes, both professional and amateur, participated in the Rotary Rain Run, annually organised in Goa by the Rotary Club of Porvorim, which was flagged off from the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) Athletics Stadium in Bambolim, by Col. Rajeev Raghavan, Deputy Commandant, 2 STC.
In the 21 km timed run, winner Ankit Kumar Yadav clocked a timing of one hour, 20 minutes, 31 seconds in the men’s category, and Deepika Prakash emerged victorious in the women’s category, clocking one hour, 43 minutes, five seconds. In the 10 km timed run category, Hari Velip won the run in the men’s category by clocking a timing of 38 minutes, 57 seconds and Ayan Soares won in the women’s category, with a timing of 52 minutes, 11 seconds.
Other non-timed runs at the event included a five km dream walk, a two-kilometre fun walk and the newly introduced two-kilometre Seniority Walk. Around 25 para-athletes from Goa and Karnataka also participated in the two-kilometre fun walk.
Hundreds of amateur runners, which included scores of children, participated in the event’s non-timed categories.
36-year-old Deepika Prakash, who bagged the win in the women’s 21 km timed run category, said: “This is my first time participating in the Rotary Rain Run. Although I am a regular runner and participate in full marathons and ultra runs, I hadn't expected to win in this category. The humidity, too, didn't deter me from enjoying the beauty of the route.”
Third-time Rotary Rain Run participant Hari Velip, a 26-year-old from Dharbandora, Goa, who won the men’s 10 km timed run category, stated: “I was thrilled when I won this race. This is the third edition of the Rotary Rain Run I have participated in, and winning in this category on the monumental 10th edition is a feather in my cap.”
