It was set by Shivnath Singh, with a timing of 2 minutes and 12 seconds, at Jallandhar during the Punjab Marathon in 1978 and no one has come close.
MUMBAI: Over the past few years, some long-standing Indian milestones have been ground to dust. The men’s marathon mark though is still standing after almost 28 years. It was set by Shivnath Singh, with a timing of 2 minutes and 12 seconds, at Jallandhar during the Punjab Marathon in 1978 and no one has come close.
One Prahlad Singh managed 2:16 : 23 seconds in New Delhi in 1985, but that is the best anyone has come to bettering the mark.
Interestingly, Shivnath’s record ranks fourth among the five oldest that are still standing.
The oldest is the triple jump record that stands in the name of Mohinder Singh set in 1971. Second on the list is Hari Chand’s 10,000 metre record set in 1976, Sriram Singh’s (1977) 800 metre record is third, while at fifth comes PT Usha’s 400 metre hurdles record, unbeaten since 1984.
Surender Kumar Mavi, who finished third in the last edition of the Kerala Marathon, the official race, in Thiruvananthapuram and is taking part in the 2005 Mumbai Marathon, admits that breaking the record is still a few years away.
“It is still a benchmark for all marathoners in the country. Shivnathji was a great runner and an Olympian, we all have a long way to go before we can reach anywhere close to his record,” said Mavi, whose best timing is 2 hours and 25 minutes.
Kennedy Chinna Ramu is another marathoner sweating it out at the Army Sports Institute training centre at Pune. Chinna Ramu is optimistic about getting close to Shivnath’s mark. “I am confident of getting closer to the mark. My best timing is 2 hours and 19 minutes set in Allahabad last year. When I started running marathons in 2001, I stopped the clock at 2 hours and 48 minutes,” Chinna Ramu said.
The Indian women’s marathon record too is a little over 10 years old. It stands in the name of Vally Sathyabhama who stopped the clock at 2 hours 38 minutes and 10 seconds in 1995 at Chennai. The fact that the No.1 ranked woman marathoner at the 2005 Mumbai Marathon is coming in with a time of 2 hours 58 minutes and 38 seconds shows how far the record is from being broken.
Actually, the poor timings is what has brought Sathyabhama out of semi-retirement at the age of 40. “If I manage to complete the marathon on Sunday, then I am confident of getting close to my old mark.”
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