Prajakta wins Hyderabad Half Marathon

On a pleasant morning, with cool breeze for comfort, 28-year-old Prajakta underlined her reputation as one of India's top distance runners by covering the half marathon distance in an impressive one hour 23 minutes and 45 seconds.

Preenu Yadav (1.24.46) and Nagpur's Tejaswini Umbkane (1.25:11) grabbed the second and third places behind her.

Cricketing icon and brand ambassador of Ageas Federal Life Insurance, Sachin Tendulkar flagged off over 8,000 runners at the crack of dawn, making the Hyderabad Half Marathon one of the biggest running events in southern India.

Later, Tendulkar and India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand felicitated the winners.

'I got a good challenge from Renu and Tejaswini; But with experience, I was finally able to win the race," said Prajakta while talking to Lokmat Times from Hyderabad.

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