Kartik Karkera and Nirmaben Thakor reigned supreme at the New Delhi Marathon 2026 in New Delhi on Sunday. Kartik won the men’s race and Nirmaben brooked no challenge in the women’s race.
The 28-year-old Karkera stopped the clock at two hours, 13 minutes and 10 seconds (2:13:10) to take the men’s national marathon crown. Olympian Thonakal Gopi was just two seconds behind in 2:13:12.
Man Singh, who won the gold medal at the Asian Marathon Championships 2024 and was the defending champion at the New Delhi Marathon, finished his run in 2:13:15 for third place.
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All three top finishers in the men’s race breached the Asian Games 2026 qualification mark of 2:15:04. The AFI is expected to select at least two eligible athletes in each athletics event for the continental showpiece in Japan later this year.
India’s men’s marathon national record is 2:12:00, set by Shivnath Singh in Jalandhar in 1978.
Nirmaben Thakor surges to the top
Nirmaben Thakor claimed the top honours among elite women Indian athletes with a timing of 02:41:15. Last year’s champion Bhagirathi Bisht (02:43:28) and Ashwini Jadhav (02:56:59) took the other two places on the podium.
The Indian women’s marathoners could not beat the Asian Games qualifying mark of 2:31:52. The women’s national record is 2:34:43, clocked by OP Jaisha in 2015.
This was the 11th edition of the New Delhi Marathon. The race started and finished at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, covering key landmarks of the city. Around 30,000 participants competed across four distances – full marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K.
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The New Delhi Marathon is recognised as a national marathon by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and is a certified World Athletics race.
Kuldip Kumar (01:08:51) and Genet Shikur Reshid (01:19:36) won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, in half marathons.
Results:
Elite men: 1. Kartik Karkera (2:13:10); 2. Thonakal Gopi (2:13:12); 3. Man Singh (2:13:15).
Elite women: 1. Nirmaben Thakor (02:41:15); 2. Bhagirathi Bisht (02:43:28); 3. Ashwini Madan Jadhav (02:56:59).
Half marathon men: 1. Kuldip Kumar (01:08:51); 2. Ravi Bumbak (01:09:33); 3. Mohmmad Sahil Anigeri (01:09:41).
Half marathon women: 1. Genet Shikur Reshid (01:19:36); 2. Ekta (01:19:39); 3. Priti Lamva (01:19:59).
10K men: 1. Manav Sharma (0:30:40); 2. Prakash Rai (0:30:44); 3. Vishal Singh (0:34:45).
10K women: 1. Anjali (0:37:05); 2. Neha (0:41:50); 3. Anupriti Mishra (0:41:48).
