Ranchi: Uttarakhand’s Deepak Bhat clocked 29:42.93 to top the men’s 10,000m on the first day of the National Senior Athletics Federation meet at Bursa Munda Stadium, Morabadi on Friday.Bhatt, who not only won his first national medal but also set a personal best, surged forward in the final lap to overtake Karnataka’s Shivaji Parashuram, who suffered severe dehydration and collapsed at the finish line. His condition was so bad that he had to be taken off the track and it took a long time to recover. Although he finished second, Parashuram was later disqualified for stepping outside the track boundaries under World Athletics Technical Rule 17.2.4.Despite the 6:25 a.m. start, he wasn’t the only one struggling with the heat and humidity. In the end, as many as eight athletes did not finish the race.But Indian chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair did not want to blame the weather. “It was definitely humid, no doubt about it. But most athletes are trained to compete in such conditions. Still, if you look anywhere, the temperature is very high in places, so you can’t really blame it on that alone. However, those who are not properly trained to run in these conditions can struggle and become dehydrated,” said Nair.Also, struggling during the race was orthopedic surgeon Karthik Karkira who grabbed the headlines by winning back-to-back marathons and qualifying for the Asian Games. He was lapped at one stage and finished in 32:03.14.After Parashuram’s disqualification, Karnataka’s Shailesh Kushwaha finished second with a time of 29:57.56, while UP’s Prashanth Chaudhary finished third with 30:36.97.The women’s 10,000m title, meanwhile, went to Maharashtra’s Raveena Gaikwad, who clocked 35:30.98. Uttarakhand’s Sonia was second in 36:16.22, while Maharashtra’s Aartipawara was third in 36:24.79.
