The 29 years old Sanjivani clocks 2::49:02 on her marathon debut says had enough in the tank but opted for a conservative pace to avoid hitting the wall in the last 10km of the race.

A fortnight after Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced 2026 Asian Games qualification, Maharashtra’s 29 years old track specialist Sanjivani Jadhav tested her endurance at the Tata Mumbai marathon. “I just wanted to test myself over the gruelling distance (42.195 km),” the 29 years old Asian 5,000m bronze medallist told Sportsbackstory.com over the phone from Nasik.

Sanjivani clocked two hours 49 minutes and 02 seconds to finish first in the Indian women’s category at 2026 Tata Mumbai marathon on January 18. Gujarat’s Nirmaben Thakor wasn’t successful in defending her title and finished second with a time of 2::49:13. Sonam was third with a time of 2::49:24.

According to Sanjivani she had enough in the tank after crossing the finish line. She could have clocked a better time but lacked the experience to run a fast marathon.

The marathon race generally starts after 30km, says experts. The last six miles or 10km are the hardest part of the gruelling race. To avoid hitting the wall in the last 10km, I opted for a conservative pace, she says. “I decided to stay within the comfort zone as it was my first marathon,” Sanjivani adds. “I will certainly try to improve my time in my second marathon.”

The Asian Games qualification time for the women’s marathon event is 2::31:52.00. But at the moment Sanjivani isn’t thinking of becoming a full-time marathon runner.

Being Asian Games year, her focus will be distance track races. “I will focus on the track races—10,000m and 5,000m in the coming months as I want to compete in the Asian Games,” Sanjivani told Sportsbackstory.com.

The Asian Games qualification time in the women’s 10,000m track race is 33:50.00. The qualification time in the women’s 5,000m is 15:36.58. The Maharashtra’s international runner exuded confidence of making a grade in both 10,000m and 5,000m track races for the Asian Games.

None of the male Indian athletes made a big impression at the 2026 edition of Tata Mumbai Marathon. The long-standing national marathon record of 2::12:00 set by late Shivnath Singh in 1978 in Jalandhar, Punjab, wasn’t threatened.

The winner—Kartik Karkera— in the Indian men’s category clocked a personal best of 2::19:55. Army’s experienced runner Anish Thapa was second (2::20:08) while Pradeep Chaudhary was third (2::20:49). Asian Games qualification time in the men’s marathon is 2::15:04.00.

The top three finishers in the Indian Elite men’s and women’s categories received prize money of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4 lakh and Rs 3 lakh respectively.

EOM