Report: Feyzan Lakhani. In the 46th edition of the London Marathon on Sunday, Pakistani runners not only participated in large numbers but also left a strong impression with their performance, strategy and consistency.
More than 30 runners from the Pakistani community living in Pakistan and across the world participated in the London Marathon and showcased their skills.
Britain-based Abdullah Muhammad Athar clocked 2 hours 39 minutes and 53 seconds to become the fastest Pakistani runner in London this year, the highlight of his performance being his racing strategy.
He showed remarkable consistency in the early stages of the race, completing the first 10 km in 39 minutes 7 seconds and the half marathon in 1 hour 18 minutes 23 seconds, his pace hovering between 3:41 and 3:49 per km for most of the race.
In the final stages where the runners usually slow down, Athar controlled the pace very smartly and finished strong at around 4:00 per km.
Abdullah Muhammad Athar said that many people in Pakistan think that running takes a lot of time, but for me it brings discipline and peace in life.
“My best 10km time a year ago was around 37 minutes, and today I ran the whole marathon at the same pace,” he said.
Amin Makati from Karachi was the second fastest Pakistani in 2 hours 45 minutes and 2 seconds, a perfect example of a balanced and controlled race.
He started cautiously, 5km 19min 8sec and the half-marathon in 1hr 21min 43sec, his pace mostly between 3:50 and 3:59 per kilometer, importantly he managed to maintain his pace in the last part of the race.
Speaking to Jio after the race, Amin Makati said that I started the race under control and finished strong, I did not crash anywhere, this was the biggest achievement.
Among the women, Sara Tahoor Lodhi of Dubai clocked 3 hours 25 minutes and 2 seconds to become the fastest Pakistani woman.
He brilliantly completed the 10km 46min 20sec half marathon in the early part of the race in 1hr 38min 7sec, but slowed down after 25km, dropping his pace from 5:00 to 5:20 per km.
Sara said that she is proud to represent Pakistan in the London Marathon once again.
In other notable performances, Karachi’s Rehan Adamji became the third fastest Pakistani with (3:11:01), while Adnan Gandhi bettered his previous performance in London with (3:32:32).
Sahil Kumar completed the race in under four hours, while Zeeshan Rab of Denmark completed his 55th marathon in (4:01:43).
Samin Nasir (4:04:35), Mihemed Hasan (4:07:25) and Adil Ali (4:07:51) showed a strong performance and among women, Hara Dewan (4:12:53) and Hadiya Kishore (4:17:37) came first.
One of the highlights of the event was the global representation of Pakistani runners, including Pakistanis based in the UK, USA, Middle East and Europe.
It should be noted that these performances show that the trend of sports in the Pakistani society is growing rapidly.
Complete results of Pakistani runners:
Abdullah Muhammad Athar – 02:39:53
Amen Makati – 02:45:02
Rehan Adamji – 03:11:01
Sara Tahoor – 03:25:02
Adnan Gandhi – 03:32:32
Faisal Shafi – 03:49:40
Sahil Kumar – 03:57:44
Zeeshan Rab – 04:01:43
Samin Nasir – 04:04:35
Muhammad Hassan – 04:07:25
Adil Ali – 04:07:51
Hara Dewan Gandhi – 04:12:53
Imran Ghayoor Ahmed – 04:13:55
Hadiya Kishore – 04:17:37
Yusuf Hasan – 04:21:21
Naveed Hussain – 04:31:03
Wasim Akhtar – 04:45:09
Hanna Shabbir – 04:55:05
Ahmar Khan – 05:00:02
Javed Hussain – 05:10:42
Sana Habib – 05:18:45
Huzeifa Hashmi – 05:21:36
Alias Muhammad – 05:23:52
Qamar Zia – 05:31:05
Moaz Chishti – 05:39:44
Shanze Ahmed – 06:56:41
Alina Pervez – 07:01:30
Azhar Hussain – 07:07:15
Adam Muhammad – 07:32:15
Shifa Aftab – 08:05:42
