V.C. Venkatesh and Dr. Usha Hegde became the first Mysureans to complete Delhi Marathon (42.195-km) in the Boston Marathon Qualifying time. The Marathon was held on Sunday last.

To participate in Boston Marathon, one has to reach the specified qualifying timing in Marathons certified by Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS).

While 52-year-old Venkatesh completed the Delhi Run in 3-hours-22-minutes, which is Boston Marathon Qualifying timing for men in 50-54 years category, 48-year-old Dr. Usha Hegde finished the Marathon in 3-hours-47-minutes, the Boston Qualifying timing for women in 45-49 years category.

Venkatesh is the Founder of The Strategy Labs, Mysuru, an IT consulting company and resides at Vijayanagar 4th Stage. Dr. Usha Hegde is a dentist and Head of the Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology at JSS Dental College in city. She also has to her credit of becoming the first woman from city to have finished the Ironman Western Australia 2019 Triathlon.

Speaking to Star of Mysore about his aim of participating in Boston Marathon 2021, Venkatesh said: “Boston Marathon is like the holy grail for Marathon runners. I have been running Marathons in India for the past seven years. Every year I usually take part only in two Marathons — Mumbai and Chennai. But this year, I took part in Delhi Marathon because I had earlier in January missed the Boston Qualifying time in Mumbai Marathon by a few minutes.”

Speaking about his preparation for Marathons, Venkatesh said: “I run all my training runs in University of Mysore campus. I follow a particular training schedule. I go for three runs in a week and also go for physiotherapy and follow proper nutritious diet. And for Delhi event, I started training from July last.”