Mumbai: Sawan Barwal, an Armyman from Himachal Pradesh, broke the 48-year-old national record in the men's marathon with a time of 2:11:58 at the Rotterdam Marathon. The 28-year-old debutant fell and collapsed at the finish line but managed to break the record set by Shivnath Singh in 1978.
Barwal, who trains with experienced marathon runners Gopi T and Man Singh, had set his target to finish between 2:08 to 2:10 but was affected by the strong and cold wind in the last 2km of the race.
He had been planning and training for over six months and made his marathon debut after returning from an injury in December. Barwal's performance has breathed fresh life into India's stagnant marathon scene and has also qualified him for the Asian Games in Japan.
Barwal's next target is to win a medal at the Asian Games, and he believes that this was just the start of his marathon journey.
