half-marathon

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Cognizant New Delhi Marathon 2026 – Musings

Kartik Karkera and Nirmaben Thakor won the men’s and women’s marathon race at the Cognizant New Delhi Marathon 2026 held on February 22.

Kartik won the race in two hours, 13 minutes and 10 seconds, a huge improvement from his win a month ago at Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026 where he finished the race in 2:19:55.

The men’s race was a tight finish. Finishing two seconds after Kartik was Gopi Thonakal, veteran marathon runner, and the second fastest Indian marathon runner. Man Singh, the defending champion, finished three seconds after Gopi at 2:13:15.

All the three top finishers have qualified for the Asian Games. The qualifying mark as per Athletic Federation of India (AFI) was 2.15.04. The continental games are slated to be held in Japan in September this year.

In the women’s race, Nirmaben Thakor won with a finish of 2:41:15, a stupendous improvement in her personal timing. Defending champion Bhagirathi Bisht came in second with a finish of 2:43:28. In third position was Ashwini Jadhav with a finish of 2:56:59.

Certified by AFI as the National Marathon, the New Delhi Marathon is a coveted marathon course as runners are able to improve their timings. The flat course of the New Delhi Marathon route and the cool February weather assist runners in improving their timings. Often times, the gains have been substantial.

Media reports pointed out that over 30,000 runners took to the streets of Delhi to run varying distances as part of the New Delhi Marathon.

The blog spoke to a few of the winners about their experience running the marathon.

Kartik Karkera, orthopaedic surgeon, may seem like he came out of nowhere to emerge as a winner in elite category in two leading marathons – Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026 and Cognizant New Delhi Marathon 2026.

But the truth is that he has been quietly working at improving his running over the last ten years. “I enrolled for MBBS in 2015 in Moscow. In 2016, I started running and swimming mainly as a hobby,” he told this blog. He went on to do his MS in Russia and then commenced working in Russian Olympic Committee as a surgeon.

“During the Covid-19 years, I took to running twice a day. I was putting in more effort and I was enjoying it too,” he said. While in Moscow, he experienced his first running event – a 1,500-metre race.

Kartik returned to India in November of 2023. He had to write the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination, a mandatory test for those with overseas medical degrees. He joined Dr Vasantrao Pawar Medical College and Hospital in Nashik.

He has been focussing on 800 metres and mainly on 1,500 metres and has won gold medals for Maharashtra state in these events. Moving on to longer distances, Kartik went on to do 5 km, 10 km and half marathon races. At Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, Kartik finished third among Indian elite.

The 2026 edition of Tata Mumbai Marathon was his debut marathon. “It was an experience for me as it was my first marathon. I had cramps and did struggle a lot during the latter part of the race. Also, the late start was tough,” Kartik pointed out. He won the Indian elite race with a timing of 2:19:55.

A month later, Kartik won again with a huge improvement in his timing at the New Delhi Marathon. His finish of 2:13:10 has secured him a berth in the upcoming Asian Games, due in September 2026 in Japan.

As opposed to Mumbai, the NDM start time for elite runners was too early, at 4 am. “My aim was to win this race and qualify for Asian Games,” he said adding that he was able to finish strong. “Up until 35 to 36 km, we were on track for a national record,” he said.

With his TMM run, he has also completed the Procam Slam, which entails running the four events – TCS World 10 k, Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, TSK 25 k Kolkata and TMM.

Kartik trains under Vijendra Singh, who is also the coach for Nirmaben and Sanjivani Jadhav, the elite runner who won the Indian women’s race at TMM 2026. “For strength training, nutrition and other aspects, I devise my own plan. I do my own research on sports medicine,” he said.

He is due to run the TCS World 10 K at Bengaluru in April. His main focus this year would be training for Asian Games.

In December 2025, Gopi Thonakal came quite close to the long-standing marathon national record when he crossed the finish line of Valencia Marathon with a timing of 2:12:23. The national record of 2:12 was set way back in 1978 by Shivnath Singh.

Gopi has been training in Bengaluru for many years but for the last six months he has moved his base to Ooty to train on a hilly terrain and higher altitude. Gopi believes the Ooty training has helped him to secure a substantial improvement in his timing at Valencia Marathon.

“My training for New Delhi Marathon went off quite well. I came into the race quite confidently,” said Gopi. But the 4 am start at Delhi was a dampener. “I did not sleep a wink. There was too much noise and I had to wake up at 2 am for 4 am start,” he said.

Though the weather was conducive for racing, the lack of sleep did bother. “I was able to do the first half of the race well but in the second half, I could feel the tiredness,” he said.

A slightly delayed start, at around 5 am, would have been more beneficial, Gopi pointed out. “When you wake up at 2 am for a 4 am start it is also difficult to eat or drink anything before the race,” he said.

Gopi, 37, will resume training in a few weeks and his focus is most likely on Asian Games.

At the start line of the elite marathon race at NDM 2026, defending champion Man Singh had the backing of very good training, which he executed with his compatriot Gopi.

“Our focus was to qualify for the Asian Games and therefore our training plan was designed keeping that in mind,” he said.

Man Singh (in black vest) with Gopi

The army man, otherwise based in Pune, moved to Ooty mainly to get the benefit of training in the hills.

The night before the race, Man Singh also had not slept at all. Man Singh and Gopi were sharing a room.

“The race timing was too early. In the early part of the race, some of the stretches along the route were quite dark. I could feel cramps coming on but they were manageable,” Man Singh said.

Although he was disappointed with his third finish, Man Singh did improve his personal record. He finished the marathon at NDM in 2:13:15, a 10-second improvement from his previous personal best which he achieved in 2025.

In January 2026, Nirmaben Thakor had finished second among Indian elite women at Tata Mumbai Marathon. She was the defending champion at TMM 2026 but lost out to Sanjivani Jadhav by a few seconds.

Nirmaben is unperturbed by these rankings. “It is extremely competitive out there. These things are bound to happen,” she told this blog.

At New Delhi Marathon 2026, she not only won the women’s race but also secured a personal record with a huge margin.

The elite runner from Patan, Gujarat, has been residing and training in Nashik under Coach Vijendra Singh. Her training in the run up to these two major marathons was quite good and that helped her performance at NDM 2026.

Nirmaben finished the marathon in a timing of 2:41:15, a stupendous improvement over her previous personal best of 2:47:11, which she secured in the 2024 edition of Tata Mumbai Marathon.

Nirmaben survives on her earnings from podium finishes in races.

For the last few years Kalidas Hirave has been a podium finisher in leading marathon races.

He started as a middle-distance runner moving to longer distances over the years. In February 2022, Kalidas ran his debut marathon at the New Delhi Marathon, finishing with a personal best timing of 2:18:12.

At the 2023 edition of Tata Mumbai Marathon, Kalidas finished in third position among the elite.

Kalidas, originally from Satara in Maharashtra, now resides and trains in Nashik. He works with Life Insurance of India. “My training for NDM 2026 was quite good. Kartik Karkera, the winner of the race, trained with me,” he said.

He completed the run in 2:20:09, securing a sixth position among marathon elites. “The first half of my race went very well. But in the second half I started to feel tightness in my legs due to cramps and had to slow down a tad,” he said.

He is also due to participate in TCS world 10k at Bengaluru in April.

Ashok Bind also mostly survives on his prize money from podium finishes. The runner, originally from Uttar Pradesh, has been securing podium finishes in many of the races recently.

At TMM 2026, he had finished second overall in the open category of the marathon race and first in his age group of 18 to 24 years.

Ashok has been running for about 10 years, initially doing steeple chase and middle-distance races.

“My training for NDM was quite good,” he said. He had previously told this blog that he trains under O.P. Jaisha, a veteran marathon runner, who continues to hold the women national record in marathon.

“My run at NDM went off quite well. The weather and the route, both were good,” he said. Ashok finished the race in 2:28:25, securing a second position in the open category of the marathon. It was also a new personal best timing compared with his previous best of 2:30:11 at the 2024 edition of the New Delhi Marathon in 2024, when he secured an overall third position and first in his age category of 35 to 45 years.

He is likely to run TCS World 10k, due on April 26, 2026.

In November 2025, running the 100 km race at the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships held at Thailand, Jayadrath Singh finished fifth among men with a timing of 7:51.

“The race was quite tough because it started at 10 pm. I am not used to running in the nights,” said Jayadrath, a long-distance runner from the Indian Air Force, currently posted in Chennai. The warm weather in Chennai did help with the humidity in Thailand but he did suffer from nausea during the 100 km race. Ultrarunners are wont to suffer from gut issues during the race if hydration and nutrition are not ideal.

Jayadrath, originally from Rishikesh in Uttarakhand started running in 2019.

“This is the seventh year, I am running NDM. This time around I had a very good race,” he said. Jayadrath finished the run in 2:42:04, securing a sixth position in the open category of marathon and second position in his age category of 30 to 40 years. Also, this finish was his new personal record, an improvement from his previous best of 2:43:41, which he had set at the 2025 edition of NDM.

Jayadrath will be participating in Boston Marathon 2026, slated to be held on April 20, 2026. “I have taken a break from work mainly to train in the hilly terrain of Rishikesh for Boston Marathon,” he told this blog.

Three weeks ahead of Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026, ultrarunner Binay Sah ended up with an ankle injury. He went off training to help the recovery but the time available until TMM race day was not sufficient for a complete recovery. He finished the race in 3:01 hours.

But he was able to do well at the IDFC First Bank Indian Navy Half Marathon held in New Delhi on February 1, 2026. He finished the race in 1:20:20

“My ankle injury took a month’s time to recover,” he said.

Running the New Delhi Marathon 2026, Binay was able to achieve a new personal record. He finished in 2:43:05, securing a lead position in his age category of 40 to 50 years and ninth overall in the open category of the marathon race.

Having suffered a couple of setbacks, Binay was all set for the New Delhi Marathon. “This time, I also trained for the U turns on the NDM route,” he said.

The NDM route, though mostly flat, has many turns including several U turns.

Binay has represented India is many ultrarunning events held within the country as well as overseas. In November 2025, he was due to run the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships held in Thailand. But in early November, he contracted dengue and had to pull out of the race.

In 2022, Binay had a health scare. He was due to leave for Spartathlon, 246 km ultramarathon held in Greece in September every year. “I had to go to Fortis Hospital in Delhi for a fitness certificate before I left for the race. The cardiologist, a friend, casually did a 2D Echo and the whole story changed. He found a hole in my heart,” he said. Binay was asked to pull out of Spartathalon that year and was advised to go in for ASD Closure, a medical procedure to rectify the problem.

Next on cards for Binay is the 50 km at the Masters Meet in Delhi on March 15. This event runs concurrently with the IAU 50 km World Championships, initially slated to be held in December 2025 but postponed to March 2026 mainly due to the bad air quality in the capital city.

Elite runner Ashwini Jadhav comes from the same place the veteran marathon runner Jyoti Gawate hails from – Parbhani in Maharashtra.

Jyoti has been a podium finisher in many of the leading marathons including Mumbai Marathon and the New Delhi Marathon over the last few years. Jyoti holds the national record for 100 km with a timing of 8:20:07 hours set at the IAU 100 km World Championships at Berlin in 2022.

Ashwini, 21, trains with Jyoti under their coach Ravi Raskatla. She has been running for the last eight years and took to marathon running in the last three years.

“My training for NDM 2026 was not very good. I was not well. I have been running too many races and there has been no time for recovery,” she said. Ashwini, Jyoti and many other runners around the country mainly survive on the prize money from their podium wins. At TMM 2026, Jyoti had finished sixth among Indian elite women.

“At NDM this time my run was okay, far from my best. The route is good and the weather was excellent,” she said. Ashwini finished third among elite women with a timing of 2:56:59. At the 2025 edition of the New Delhi Marathon, Ashwini had secured a personal best with her finish of 2:50:48 and a third position among elite women.

Having finished her BSc degree, she has now secured admission for BPEd.

With age on her side, Ashwini believes she can improve her marathon timings further.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

(All photos provided by athletes)

(With inputs from MySamay.in)

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TMM 2026 — Musings

Ethiopian runners Tadu Abate Deme and Yeshi Kalayu Chekole were the winners of the 2026 edition of Tata Mumbai Marathon, held on January 18, 2026.

Tadu Deme won the race with a finish of two hours, nine minutes and 55 seconds.

In the women’s elite race, Yeshi secured the top position with a timing of 2:25:13.

Among Indian elite runners, Kartik Karkera won the race with a finish of 2:19:55. Among women Sanjivani Jadhav won with a timing of 2:49:02.

This year, the number of runners on the streets of Mumbai participating in Tata Mumbai Marathon was higher compared to previous editions of the race.

The blog spoke to a select few runners about their experience in achieving their podium finishes.

Ashok Bind

Ashok Bind, originally from Uttar Pradesh, commenced his journey in sports through steeple chase and middle-distance running. He has been running for about 10 years, often securing overall wins or age category podium finishes.

The 23-year-old runner, now living in Bengaluru, says he trains under O.P. Jaisha, India’s celebrated marathon runner. She continues to hold the national record in marathon for her 2:34:43 finish at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

“My training for TMM went off as expected and I was able to do the race at Mumbai well,” he said.

At the 2025 edition of Wipro Bengaluru Marathon, Ashok finished eighth overall and first in his age category of 18 to 25 years with a timing of 1:14:41. At the PhonePe Bengaluru Midnight Marathon Run, Ashok finished second in the 20-miler race.

Ashok survives on his prize money earnings from his podium finishes and a private job that he does in Bengaluru.

At TMM 2026, Ashok finished the marathon in 2:30:14, his personal best, securing an overall second position in the open category and top position in his age category of 18 to 24 years.

He is due to participate in New Delhi Marathon to be held on February 22, 2026 in the national capital.

With age on his side, Ashok believes he can improve his timing substantially.

Manoj R S

Twenty-six-year-old Manoj R S has been running since 2018, distances ranging from 5 km, 10 km to half marathon.

“This is the first time I did the full marathon distance. I wanted to try something new,” he said. In the process of training for the marathon he did a weekly mileage of 80-120 km.

During the race, he maintained a pace of 3:28 to 3:34 minutes per km. “My pace suffered a bit in the last 7 km stretch of the marathon,” Manoj said. He finished his debut marathon in 2:30:28, securing overall third position in the open category and second position in his age category of 25 to 29 years.

Originally from Thiruvananthapuram, he is currently based in Ernakulam in Kerala. Manoj’s earnings come from a part-time job at an academy in Ernakulam and the prize money that he gets from many of his podium finishes in various races that he participates.

Prior to Tata Mumbai Marathon, he won the second position in the half marathon race at the Thalassery Heritage Run 2026 held on January 4, 2026 finishing in 1.06:28.

“My run at TMM was my first experience at running a marathon race. I think, I was short on mileage training,” he said adding that he has room for improvement.

He is due to run the Federal Bank Kochi Marathon on February 8, 2026.

Vinothkumar S

Originally from Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Vinothkumar S now resides in Ooty. He has been running for several years now and often securing podium positions.

Vinothkumar is also among those athletes who survive on prize money that he earns from his podium finishes. In 2023, he secured top position in his age category of 30 to 39 years at Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon with a timing of 2:36:18. The following year, he again topped his age category with an improved timing of 2:32:17. His personal best in a marathon is 2:25:45, which he set at the Tamil Marathon 2023 held in Chennai.

At TMM 2026, his target was 2.26 but during the race he missed out on consuming gels. “The humidity in Mumbai does pose a challenge as I mostly stay and train in Ooty,” he said. Also, the crowd of runners, mostly half marathon runners, towards the last few kilometers of the route necessitates dodging to get ahead towards the finish line.

At TMM 2026, Vinothkumar finished the race in 2:35, securing a lead position in his age category of 40 to 44 years and eighth overall in the open category. He is also due to run the Federal Bank Kochi Marathon on February 8, 2026.

Saurav Ranjan

Ultrarunner Saurav Ranjan, who represents India in key international running events, had no plans to run the 2026 edition of Tata Mumbai Marathon.

Returning from two major ultrarunning events – the IAU 24 Hour World Championships at Albi, France in October 2025 and the IAU 100 kilometer Asia & Oceania Championships at Bangkok, Thailand in November 2025 – Saurav was on a break from training.

Training for these two events was extremely intense with a major focus on building endurance mileage. “I was off training after a rigorous schedule for a few months prior to the two events that I was part of,” Saurav said adding that he did just a couple of long runs as part of the preparation for TMM 2026.

“I had run the 2024 edition of TMM finishing in 2:48:33. Weather in Mumbai is humid but as ultrarunners we cannot complain about weather,” he said.

This time, the route was good and the overall organisation was good with adequate hydration points, he said. “I was able to sustain the pace of 3:44 to 3:51 minutes per km. I think I benefited from the extensive training that I put in for my ultrarunning events,” he said.

Saurav finished his TMM 2026 in 2:41:33, securing a third position in his age category of 30-34 years.

Early February, he is due to compete in the 60 km BSF Run – Road to Heaven in Dholavira in Gujarat.

Vijayaraghavan Venugopal

In November 2025, Vijayaraghavan Venugopal completed his six-star World Marathon Major circuit at the New York City Marathon. He completed it with a personal best timing of 2:47:57.

A sub-three marathon runner, Vijayaraghavan has not only been managing a time efficient finish to his marathons but also bettering it.

“I didn’t specifically train for Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026. I did one run of 30 km and did not participate in any race in the interim,” he said. 

At Mumbai Marathon, Vijayaraghavan found the holding area for marathon runners better organised compared with previous years despite the increased number of runners for this distance.

“The addition of coastal road to the marathon route made it more challenging as there was added elevation,” he said. Mumbai’s weather, often humid, was not so much of a bother as much as the air quality, which was quite bad, he said.

While hydration support for marathon runners was mostly well laid out, there could be some more aid stations on the coastal road and the Bandra sea link, some of the lonely stretches along the route, Vijayaraghavan said.

Co-Founder and CEO of Fast & Up, a sports nutrition brand, Vijayaraghavan trains under Canada’s Malindi Elmore, an Olympian middle-distance runner, triathlete and a marathon runner.

At TMM 20206, Vijayaraghavan finished the marathon in 2:50:14 securing the top position in his age category of 50 to 54 years.

After two major marathons – New York City Marathon and Tata Mumbai Marathon – Vijayaraghavan is due to run the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Major Age Group World Championship run at Cape Town in South Africa in May this year.

Reenu Sandhu

Track and field athlete Reenu Sandhu won the gold in the women’s open category of the half marathon at the 2026 edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon.

Last year Reenu was part of the elite runners for the marathon race but had to pull out of the race at around 27th kilometre.

Reenu, originally from Haryana, is a sub-inspector with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and is posted in Bhopal. A track and field athlete she has been running 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, half marathon and the full marathon.

“This time I chose to run the half marathon. Mumbai’s weather is too tough for the marathon. Also, the half marathon race starts much earlier than the elite marathon race,” she said. The marathon for elite runners commences at 7 am.

Reenu finished the half marathon race in 1:17:59, winning the women’s open category gold.

Sarswati Rai

In 2025, Sarswati Rai, the runner from Kalimpong, was the winner among women in the open category Tata Mumbai Marathon. This time around, she had to settle for the third position in open category.

Though her training was good, a niggling knee issue was hampering her running. Encouraged by her husband, she started running about 11 years ago and has been securing podium finishes in most of the races she participates.

“This time the change in the route for full marathon did pose a challenge. There were too many elevations,” she said. This time around, the marathon route included stretches of the newly opened coastal road, which has a few added elevations.

For a runner from Kalimpong, Mumbai’s humidity is also an issue to contend with.

Sarswati finished her TMM run with a timing of 3:12:10, nearly two minutes more than her 2025 finish, which secured her a gold in open category.

She is now due to run the Bordermen Marathon to be held on February 22, 2026 from Golden Gate Amritsar to JCP Attari.

Sunmbul Rahman

Kolkata-based runner, Sunmbul Rahman, has over the past few years completed the seven World Marathon Majors, travelling to each of these seven cities – Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York City, Tokyo and finally Sydney.

Nevertheless, she was not comfortable doing the Mumbai Marathon. “I ran Mumbai Marathon in 2018 and 2019 and was not happy with my timings.”

“Having done three of the four Procam Slam races, I had no choice but to do Mumbai Marathon. And what a year I chose to run – when the organisers added the coastal road in the marathon route and with it the added elevations,” she said.

She completed the distance in 3:42:21, securing a second position in her age group of 50 to 54 years. With this she also completed her first Procam Slam.

Sunmbul is also now a trained nutritionist. Training under coach Ashok Nath for the last few years has helped her running immensely.

“Mumbai Marathon to me was a nemesis. I am happy to have faced my nemesis and ended up with a fairly good run,” she said.

On her World Marathon Majors circuit, she is now waiting for Cape Town to be added to the list.

Kranti Salvi

Mumbai’s Kranti Salvi is a regular at many running events either as an ambassador or a runner, who often returns with podium finishes.

She has been running the marathon at Mumbai Marathon for several years. She chose to run with a cause – that of saving Sanjay Gandhi National Park and raising voice against the unchecked development being allowed inside the national park.

“I wore the banner “Hands Off Our Forest” on my back. There were at least 600 runners who chose to run with this banner additionally apart from their timing bib,” Kranti said.

“With nearly 70,000 participants on the ground, the Mumbai Marathon is perhaps the most powerful platform in the city to create awareness,” she said.

The banner that many runners wore during the Mumbai Marathon

Her race went off well and she finished in 3:59:33, securing a second position in her age category of 55 to 59 years.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

(Photo courtesy the runners)

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Gopi 23 secs short of national record; sets new PB at Valencia Marathon

A mere 23 seconds separated Indian elite marathon runner Gopi Thonakal from one of the longest standing national records at the Valencia Marathon 2025, held on December 7, 2025.

Thirty-seven-year-old Gopi finished the 42.2 kilometre marathon race in 2:12:23, just 23 seconds over the national record of 2:12 set by Shivnath Singh way back in 1978.

At Valencia, Gopi set a new personal record, a stupendous improvement from his previous best of 2:13:39, which he had achieved at Seoul Marathon 2019.

“My run at this year’s Valencia Marathon is my best performance in my marathon running career. I was able to achieve a PB (personal best),” he told this blog.

Gopi is among India’s leading marathon runners and the fastest in recent years. At the 2016 Mumbai Marathon, Gopi was assigned the role of a pacer for his colleagues from the Army. He ended up completing the marathon and securing a podium finish that year.

That run helped him to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics at Rio de Janeiro, where he finished in 25th position with a timing of 2:15:25.

In November 2017, Gopi became the first Indian to secure gold at the Asian Marathon Championships with a 2:15:48 finish. Gopi has secured many gold and other podium positions as an elite runner in many marathons in the country.

For the last six years, Gopi has been training in Bengaluru. This time around, he moved to Ooty for four months to train for Valencia Marathon. “I think the high altitude at Ooty helped my performance,” he said. Also, this time his training was tweaked  with a greater focus on endurance. Therefore, his training mileage was higher.

“At Valencia, the competition was good. Also, the course and the weather were quite good. That’s why I was able to do well and improve my performance,” Gopi said. Support from Indian Army and Reliance Group also contributed to his improved performance, he said.

During the race, at around 36 km mark, he developed cramps in his calves and had to pause twice. “If not for cramps, I could have got an even better timing,” he said.

Valencia Marathon is a popular marathon race mainly because the route is flat with very little turns, therefore a fast course. Also, the weather in December in Valencia is ideal for long-distance running.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.)

(With inputs from Valencia Marathon website, Anand Venkatraman)

(Photo courtesy: Gopi Thonakal)