STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Kalimpong, 16 January

‘We are Gorkhas, proud to be Indian’, the logo displayed on a T-shirt was seen at 15 January in Mumbai Marathon.

The 'Team Run with Roshni' from Darjeeling Hills have come with flying colour in the concluded Mumbai Marathon.

A total of 12 runners from Darjeeling Hills from 'Team Run with Roshni' had taken part in the Marathon.

Runesh Tamang who ran full marathon of 42kms in category below 35 achieved second rank with a timing of 2 hour 46 minutes 16 seconds.

Meanwhile, good news came from the open half marathon category where out of five runners of 'Team Run', four came in top 10 and one ranked 21.

All the runners are from Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

Ajay Chhetri came on top with a time of 1 hour 12 minutes 1 second in half marathon open category followed by Puran Rai with a time of 1 hour 13 minutes 23 seconds, Rupen Chhetri came fourth and Sachin Rai achieved tenth rank in the same category.

Laxman Chhetri, who for the first time was taking part in the open half marathon, category came in twenty-first position .

The young legs wearing the T-shirt with logo "We are Gorkhas, proud to be Indians" have proved how capable the Hills runner are who have outclassed thousand of runners from different parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Adipa Rai in women's open half marathon category attained the sixth position. Aashika Rai and Sumitra Rai came in fifty-third and ninety fifth position respectively.

The team leader, the motivator Roshni Rai, too finished the Full Marathon of 42 km.

Roshni Rai, an advocate by profession, said "Many in the community think Gorkhas are only associated with a specific profession. Younger generation also has an identity crisis as many question our nationality. We, at 'Run with Roshni', believe that running will give us a way out of it.We are born in the hills where natural conditions are rugged and tough.Walking long distances is a way of life there. So with training, we want to create a league of Gorkha runners who can make India proud."