<p>Mumbai: Defending champions Srinu Bugatha and Nirmaben Thakor in the Indian men’s and women’s categories respectively have set their sights on breaking the course record at the Tata Mumbai Marathon here on Sunday.</p><p>Bugatha has trained for the event in Ooty and so has Man Singh, while Gopi T, the two-time winner of the event, is back in fray having finalised his preparations in Bengaluru. Each of these three runners are from the Indian Army.</p>.Kerala CM's ex-chief principal secretary to run in Mumbai Marathon for Wayanad disaster victims.<p>"I am looking to break the course record. I have been training in Ooty. This is my fifth time here, which is India’s best and biggest marathon,” Bugatha told media here on Friday.</p><p>The course record for men’s category among Indian runners is of 2:15:48, held by NS Rawat who set it in 2016. The same record in women’s category belongs to Sudha Singh who clocked 2:34:56 in 2019 edition.</p><p>There will be an extra reward of Rs 2 lakh for those who break these records.</p><p>“It is nice for us Indian runners to get to run alongside the Kenyans and Ethiopians runners. For those of us who are familiar with the course, it helps to know the layout as it also helps in our training,” Bugatha added.</p><p>Gopi, who is returning to the competition after missing it last year in his bid to prepare for the Paris Olympics, said he has his focus on qualification for the World Championship later this year.</p><p>“I’ve come from training in Bengaluru. This is my sixth appearance (and) I am aiming to qualify for the World Championships this year. This is our first major race of the year and we all have our eyes on the course record. I have been clocking a weekly mileage of 190-200km, so I am confident for Sunday,” Gopi said.</p><p>Gopi had pipped Bugatha to win the New Delhi Marathon by one second to record finish time of 2:14:40.</p><p>The three Armymen, however, acknowledged that the conditions in the second half of the race impact their pace.</p><p>“It’s particularly tough in the last 12 kilometres or so when it becomes hot and humid,” Bugatha told PTI.</p><p>Nirmaben said her fourth-place finish in the Tata Steel World 25K event in Kolkata has inspired her to work on her mistakes and aim for a better show.</p><p>"My training has been good. I am aiming for a timing of 2.39 in the race on Sunday. I have just come back from Kolkata, where I had a disappointing finish at fourth spot, which was due to my own mistake. I am looking forward to better my own time here," she said.</p><p>West Bengal’s Shyamali Singh, who finished third last year, hoped for another podium finish. "I have done my training, hoping for the body to respond well on the race day," she said.</p>
<p>Mumbai: Defending champions Srinu Bugatha and Nirmaben Thakor in the Indian men’s and women’s categories respectively have set their sights on breaking the course record at the Tata Mumbai Marathon here on Sunday.</p><p>Bugatha has trained for the event in Ooty and so has Man Singh, while Gopi T, the two-time winner of the event, is back in fray having finalised his preparations in Bengaluru. Each of these three runners are from the Indian Army.</p>.Kerala CM's ex-chief principal secretary to run in Mumbai Marathon for Wayanad disaster victims.<p>"I am looking to break the course record. I have been training in Ooty. This is my fifth time here, which is India’s best and biggest marathon,” Bugatha told media here on Friday.</p><p>The course record for men’s category among Indian runners is of 2:15:48, held by NS Rawat who set it in 2016. The same record in women’s category belongs to Sudha Singh who clocked 2:34:56 in 2019 edition.</p><p>There will be an extra reward of Rs 2 lakh for those who break these records.</p><p>“It is nice for us Indian runners to get to run alongside the Kenyans and Ethiopians runners. For those of us who are familiar with the course, it helps to know the layout as it also helps in our training,” Bugatha added.</p><p>Gopi, who is returning to the competition after missing it last year in his bid to prepare for the Paris Olympics, said he has his focus on qualification for the World Championship later this year.</p><p>“I’ve come from training in Bengaluru. This is my sixth appearance (and) I am aiming to qualify for the World Championships this year. This is our first major race of the year and we all have our eyes on the course record. I have been clocking a weekly mileage of 190-200km, so I am confident for Sunday,” Gopi said.</p><p>Gopi had pipped Bugatha to win the New Delhi Marathon by one second to record finish time of 2:14:40.</p><p>The three Armymen, however, acknowledged that the conditions in the second half of the race impact their pace.</p><p>“It’s particularly tough in the last 12 kilometres or so when it becomes hot and humid,” Bugatha told PTI.</p><p>Nirmaben said her fourth-place finish in the Tata Steel World 25K event in Kolkata has inspired her to work on her mistakes and aim for a better show.</p><p>"My training has been good. I am aiming for a timing of 2.39 in the race on Sunday. I have just come back from Kolkata, where I had a disappointing finish at fourth spot, which was due to my own mistake. I am looking forward to better my own time here," she said.</p><p>West Bengal’s Shyamali Singh, who finished third last year, hoped for another podium finish. "I have done my training, hoping for the body to respond well on the race day," she said.</p>