Mumbai, April 12 (IANS) Young distance runner Sawan Barwal shattered the longest-standing record in Indian athletics on his marathon debut, clocking a time of 2:11:58 at the NN Marathon Rotterdam, a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday.
The 28-year-old athlete, who is supported by the Reliance Foundation, improved on the long-standing National Record of 2:12:00 set by the legendary Shivnath Singh on May 28, 1978, in Jalandhar.
For Barwal, this was his marathon debut, marking an important milestone in his career. He has now achieved the AFI qualification standard of 2:15:00 for the 2026 Asian Games.
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.
Participation in this marathon was aligned with Project 2:09, Reliance Foundation’s high-performance initiative within the Endurance Program, aimed at enabling Indian athletes to break the 2:10 marathon barrier through science-led training, structured international exposure, and race-specific execution strategies, the Reliance Foundation informed in a release on Sunday.
The Rotterdam Marathon serves as a key benchmark competition within the long-term pathway, supporting the broader objective of elevating India’s standards in global marathon running. Currently, Sawan Barwal, Gopi Thonakal, and Man Singh are part of this project, with Gopi, Sawan, and Man having already achieved their personal best performances under the initiative.
–IANS
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