*Kochi:* Ranjit Singh and Abhilasha Sanjeev clinched the men’s and women’s titles respectively at the 4th Federal Bank Kochi Marathon, organized by CleoSportz. Ranjit Singh, an Army officer from Amritsar, Punjab, won the marathon (42.1 km) in 2 hours, 28 minutes and 53 seconds. A regular participant in the Mumbai Marathon, this marked his first appearance at the Kochi Marathon. Thiruvananthapuram (Chembazhanthi) native Manoj R.S. finished second with a timing of 2:33:21, followed by Vinoth Kumar of Madurai, who secured third place in 2:34:52.
In the women’s full marathon, Abhilasha Sanjeev from Maharashtra claimed first place, clocking 3 hours, 10 minutes and 26 seconds. The 22-year-old athlete had earlier finished fifth in the Mumbai Marathon. K.M. Laxmi from Uttarakhand came second (3:33:01), while Divya S from Pollachi finished third (3:39:37). Cash prizes of ₹1,25,000, ₹1,00,000 and ₹75,000, along with medals, were awarded to the top three finishers in both categories.
In the 21.0975 km half marathon (18–40 age group), Adetya Singh from Jammu and Kashmir won the men’s title with a time of 1:10:40. Sandeep V.K of Wayanad (1:12:40) and Jerald Cecil of Palakkad (1:15:05) finished second and third. In the women’s category, Aiswarya S from Palakkad secured first place (1:45:10), followed by Devika Ben (1:51:57) and Anna Van Duijnhoven (1:56:58), both from Kottayam.
In the 40–50 age group half marathon, Shijo Joseph (1:31:07), Siju A (1:38:12) and Rajpal Singh (1:39:18) topped the men’s category, while Reena Manohar (1:54:00), Nisha Binoy (2:46:27) and Dipika Jain (2:50:28) won the women’s category. In the 50–65 men’s category, Aji Kumar, Buffer and Taichi Zakimi finished on the podium, while Lovely Johnson (2:20:45) and Suma Binoy Oommen (2:53:57) won the women’s titles. In the over-65 category, Shanmugam S (1:37:30) came first, followed by George Benedict (1:52:31) and Sadanandan Pillai (2:05:00).
In the 10 km run, Ajmal MF, Yoshiki Takahashi and Rijin Babu emerged winners in the men’s 18–40 age group, while Jinsy G, Silpa K.S. and Martha Cecconi topped the women’s category. In the 40–50 age group, Anbarasu P, Ravi and Pothiraj P won the men’s category, while Minu Victor, Suchithra Nair and Vandana Sandeep won the women’s event. In the 50–65 men’s category, Bipin Cherian finished first, followed by Logidhas Rajasekharan and M.S. Sebastian. Jaimol K. Joseph, Malini K.R. and Tania Nisha Raj won the women’s category. In the over-65 age group, Lakshmanan A, Joseph K. Peter and Dasan Nair K.S. topped the men’s category, while Rajam Gopi, Nalini and Susy Sebastian won the women’s event.
A three-kilometre fun run was also held as part of the marathon. More than 7,800 runners, including participants from England, Korea and the Netherlands, took part in the event.
The marathon, which began at Maharaja’s College Grounds on Sunday morning, was flagged off by Federal Bank Chief Marketing Officer M.V.S. Murthy, Marathon Medical Director and Aster Medcity Emergency Medicine Consultant Dr. Savithri, Tiger Balm Regional Head V. Subramanian, Trade Marketing Head Anoop Dwivedi, and CleoSportz Directors Anish Paul, Byju Paul, Sabari Nair and M.R.K. Jayaram.
The prize distribution ceremony was attended by High Court Judge Justice Devan Ramachandran, Kochi Mayor V.K. Minimol, Deputy Mayor Deepak Joy, City Police Commissioner Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar,Coast guard DIG N. Ravi, Federal Bank CMO M.V.S. Murthy, Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Damodaran C , Group President and Chief Internal Auditor Sanjesh Kumar, Marathon Medical Director Dr. Savithri, Jain University New Initiatives Director Dr. Tom Joseph, Marathon Goodwill Ambassador Prachi Tehlan, and actor Mathew Thomas. Prizes worth a total of ₹15 lakh were distributed across various categories.
