Sawan Barwal is the fastest of the four athletes who have bettered the Asian Games marathon qualification time of 2:15:04 this year. Kartik Karkera, Gopi T and Man Singh are the other three runners.
Army’s international distance runner Sawan Barwal overcame challenging conditions in the closing stages of Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday to etch his name in the record books. The 28-year-old, on his marathon debut clocked an outstanding time of 2:11:58 to finish 20th in the world-class field on the streets of Rotterdam, Netherlands. His Sunday performance was better than the more than four-decades-old national record of 2:12:00 set by the late Shivnath Singh in 1978 in Jalandhar, Punjab.
Sawan Barwal ran a steady pace throughout the gruelling marathon distance of 42.195km. But windy conditions in the last 5km of the race took their toll on the Indian runner. “It was pretty cold and windy. I made a mistake of pouring water on my head at the water station,” the 28-year-old army runner said from Rotterdam. “I was running at a comfortable pace until the 37 km mark. But the last 2km were more challenging as I had to just plod to cross the finish line.”
Sawan Barwal is the fastest of the four athletes who have bettered the Asian Games marathon qualification time of 2:15:04 this year. Kartik Karkera, Gopi T and Man Singh are the other three runners.
Exhausted after his record-breaking efforts, the army runner fell down crossing the finish line. He was taken for medical assistance. “I’ve recovered and am feeling better,” he added.
Experienced marathon runner and Asian champion, Gopi T was the second Indian runner in the fray. Gopi finished 23rd with a time of 2:13:16. Gopi had come close to breaking the national record last year at the Valencia Marathon in December but the 37-year-old Army runner had clocked 2:12:23 to narrowly miss the record.
At the Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday, Sawan Barwal from Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh ran at a steady pace. At the halfway mark, his time was 1:04:42. At the 30km mark he was below the 2:10:00 marathon pace. “I was mentally and physically prepared to clock 2:10:00. But tough conditions robbed me of further improving my national record,” he revealed.
At 40km his time was 2:03:39. In the closing stages of the gruelling race he slowed down to cross the finish line at 2:11:58. “It was a good learning experience in Rotterdam,” he said.
EOM
