Kathmandu: Tribhuvan Army Club’s Rajan Rokaya and Dhading’s Santoshi Shrestha clinched titles in the 14th edition of the Kantipur Half Marathon in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Rajan secured his maiden Kantipur Half Marathon crown in the men’s category, clocking 1 hour 4 minutes 3 seconds in the 21.1km race, as the departmental side swept the top three positions.

Santoshi, meanwhile, claimed her second consecutive title in the women’s category, finishing in 1:18:11 to improve on her previous year’s mark of 1:23:28.

Army athletes dominated the men’s standings, with Arjun Budha finishing second in 1:06:04 and Sushil Shahi taking third in 1:06:05. Tirtha Pun of Kathmandu placed fourth (1:07:42), followed by Army’s Sanjay Shrestha in fifth (1:08:02) and Narendra Raut in sixth (1:09:03).

A record 4,000 runners participated in this year’s event, surpassing the previous high of 2,560 set in 2018, according to the organisers.

The race began from Tinkune in front of the Kantipur office and passed through Koteshwor, Jadibuti, Lokanthali, Gatthaghar, Thimi, Sallaghari and Jagati Chowk before returning via Koteshwor to finish at Tinkune.

In the women’s event, Army’s Nisha Pal finished second in 1:18:26, while Purnalakshmi Neupane secured third place in 1:23:13. Nirmala KC came fourth (1:25:54), APF’s Phulmati Rana finished fifth (1:28:43), and Sonasari Rokaya placed sixth (1:32:03).

The winners of both the men’s and women’s half marathon events received Rs 150,000 each along with trophies, while second to sixth-place finishers were awarded Rs 75,000, Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

In the Xtreme College Run (7km), Ajay Pandey emerged victorious, completing the distance in 25:35.14. Dhamendra Sharma finished second in 26:18.40, while Bishwaram Kunwar came third in 26:20.45.

Anusiya Tandukar won the women’s college category, clocking 34:21.85. Sajina Ramdam finished second (36:38.00), followed by Samjhana Kulung in third (38:07.00). Around 1,000 participants took part in the college run, with winners earning an opportunity to watch the Indian Premier League (IPL) final.

In the Corporate and Influencer Run (5km), Pukar Basnet and Kusum Tamang claimed top honours. Pukar completed the race in 17:42.60, while Ramchandra Shrestha (18:20) and Yun Rai (19:01) finished second and third respectively.

In the women’s section, Kusum clocked 24:28.38, edging Kalpana Maharjan (24:30.01) into second place, while Boliva KC finished third in 24:54.68. Winners in this category received gift hampers.

In the wheelchair race, Ramesh Khatri and Aishwarya Kumal emerged as winners. Ramesh clocked 9:29.22, while Deepak Ale Magar (11:06.02) and Ramkaji Mijar (11:57.05) finished second and third respectively—all from Jorpati, Kathmandu.