Army athletes Narendra and Purnalakshmi win the Open Uphill Championship

Kathmandu, June 8. Narendrasinh Rawat and Purnalakshmi Neupane of the Nepal Army won the national open uphill KDC run championship.

Narendra won first place among men and Purnalakshmi won first place among women in the 21-km race organised by the Nepal Adventure Running Federation on Saturday.

Narendra completed the required distance in 1 hour 19 minutes 51 seconds. On the men’s side, Army athletes dominated. Army athlete Karan Rawal finished second in 1 hour 21 minutes 55 seconds, Army athlete Sushil Kumar Shahi finished third in 1 hour 24 minutes 46 seconds. Solukhumbu’s Arjun Kulung Rai finished fourth and Army’s Gopal Tamang finished fifth.

Similarly, the champion in the women’s category, Punalakshmi, also completed the required distance in 1 hour and 47 minutes. Nirmala KC of Army came second with a time of 1 hour, 50 minutes and 08 seconds, while Priya Rai of Khotang came third with a time of 1 hour, 51 minutes and 08 seconds. Lakpa Nima Sherpa of Nepal Police came fourth, while Jogi Sherpa of Ohadurga came fifth.

The race started from Maithi Resort in Chalgarh, Kirtipur and passed through Bosandadha in Dakshinkali, Old Bhag Bhairav ​​in Kirtipur, Pushparal Park, Mati Gaon in Chandragiri, Mathatirthartha, Vishyapati in Kirtipur and ended at Maithi Resort.

The top five contestants in both the categories received prize money of Rs 75,000, Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

Tanklal Ghising, member secretary of the National Sports Council, Ekendra Kunwar, member of the Rakhep executive committee and president of the organizer Adventure Running Federation, Anjan Dhamala, member of Rakhep, Chandrabadna Rai and others presented awards to the winning athletes.

Secretary of the Lahepur Commissioner, Jisin, said at the opening ceremony of the competition that Nepal is the best destination for cross-country racing.

According to Rajan Khatri, senior vice president of the Adventure Running Federation, the organizer, 265 runners from the Nepal Army, Police, APF and five foreigners from four countries participated in the race.