Rahul B and Bhavana Aswani clinched the Open 10k men’s and women’s titles in the Ajmera Thump! Corporate Sports Challenge event, organised by Life is Calling - Sports and Electronics City Industrial Association (ELCIA) at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) here on Sunday.
On a pleasant morning, the 22-year-old Rahul ran a well-executed run to claim the men’s crown with a timing of 39:09. Sharath claimed the second place at 39:32 while Suvrajyothi Chatterjee bagged the third spot in 39:35.
Rahul, who returned on Saturday night from the National Inter-State Athletics meet in Chennai where he finished ninth in the 1500M, was delighted with his performance. “I went on an easy pace and did not push myself much, I just ran the way I would do in my practice sessions,’’ he added.
Bhavana emerged winner in the women’s Open 10k run in 52:02 while Vanditha Maheshwari finished second in 55:25 and Deepa Bhat third (58:13).
An elated Deepa, who saw her timing improve from her previous run at the TCS 10k, could barely control her joy, even though it was a third place finish.
“It’s like an exam, where you prepare so meticulously, get all your stuff ready the day before and finally when you do well, it feels great,’’ she added.
Toyota Kirloskar, comprising Shivakumar N, Arun D, vinay Mathapati and K Gowda, won the corporate relay event for men while Goldman Sachs (Vaishali Kasture, Alifiya Mamaji, Laura May and Rubaina U) claimed the corresponding women’s race. Infosys Technologies (Thanuj Kumar, Krishna Kohli, Nandesh P and Vinod Kumar) topped in the mixed relay.
In the men’s senior category, 47-year-old Ashok Nath took the top spot timing 39:56.
Srinath was way behind for the silver in 43:04 while Hari Menon came third in 45:06.
Menon’s partner Vicki Nicholson, who was the lone participant in the corresponding women’s section, managed to complete the run at 51:40.
Nicholson, an Irishwoman from Dublin who has been living in Bangalore for the last 20 years, is part of a cycling team called Spectrum Racing.
Results: Men: Open 10k: Rahul B, 39:09, 1; Sharath, 39:32, 2; Suvrajyothi Chatterjee, 39:35, 3.
Seniors (46-60 years): Ashok Nath, 39:56, 1; Srinath, 43:04, 2; Hari Menon, 45:06, 3. Corporate relay: Toyota Kirloskar (Shivakumar N, Arun D, Vinay Mathapati, K Gowda) 1; Anti Naxal Force (Sathyaraju C, Handi M L, Lingaraju Naik, Abhiman Boovi) 2; Centre for Counter Terrorism (Somashekar Murthy, Girish Ravi Kojol, Veeranna) 3.
Women: Open 10k: Bhavana Aswani, 52:02, 1; Vandita Maheshwari, 55:25, 2; Deepa Bhat, 58:13, 3.
Seniors: Vicki Nicholson, 51:04, 1.
Corporate relay: Goldman Sachs (Vaishali Kasture, Alifiya Mamaji, Laura May, Rubaina U) 1; Sapient (Bandana Singh, Ankita Sood, Annapurna K, Priyanka Sanjeev) 2; Klueber Lubrication (Sudha P, Shubha Lakshman, Geeta Sampath, Namana Holla) 3. Corporate relay (Mixed): Infosys Technologies (Thanuj Kumar, Krishna Kohli, Nandesh P, Vinod Kumar) 1; Goldman Sachs (Jagmohan Bisht, Jon May, Jeremy Follet, Amritha Kini) 2.
