Marathon in Madhya Pradesh

Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on Olympics.com — New Delhi Marathon 2024/2026 results coverage, Wikipedia — Thonakal Gopi, Mumbai Marathon, Delhi Half Marathon, Athletics Federation of India (indianathletics.in) — Asian Marathon Championships 2017, Shyamgopan.com/Outrigger — New Delhi Marathon 2026 analysis and Valencia coverage, ESPN — Avinash Sable national half marathon record, World Athletics — Gopi Thonakal profile. These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin: Ancient Greece
Category: Athletics
Olympic discipline: Yes
Paralympic discipline: No
Central pathway: Olympic (TOPS eligible)
Athlete profiles on SportSupport: 0

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body: AFI
Ministry recognition: Athletics Federation of India — Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — as at 2026Source: Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — List of recognised National Sports Federations
International federation: Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion: Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility: In scope — TOPS covers Olympic medal prospects
Olympic status: On the Olympic programme
Paralympic status: Not a Paralympic discipline

Marathon is listed on SportSupport in the athletics category. Its recorded origin is Ancient Greece. It is on the Olympic programme. We list AFI as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Marathon is on the pathway that runs through India's national sports federations to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), with selection running through AFI against its published benchmarks. Being on this pathway is not itself a statement that the discipline is currently in TOPS — TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group chosen by the Mission Olympic Cell.

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for marathon athletes in India.

Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)
Monthly stipend (₹10,000 for selected Khelo India athletes), boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.
Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)
Central government scheme covering training, foreign exposure, equipment and an out-of-pocket allowance (up to ₹50,000/month) for athletes inducted by the Mission Olympic Cell. TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines rather than every Olympic sport, and induction is decided athlete by athlete; we hold no current list confirming whether marathon is among the covered disciplines.
National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to marathon.
Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons
Lifetime monthly pension (₹20,000 for Olympic/World/Asian/CWG medallists; scaled by tier) for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria — Government of India.

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Indian Players

No profiles yet

No athlete profiles are recorded for marathon yet. We only list athletes we can source, so this section stays empty until verifiable profiles exist.

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Rules

The marathon is a 42.195 km road race run under World Athletics rules. Courses must be measured by an accredited measurer using the calibrated-bicycle method along the shortest possible running line, and only certified courses count for records and championship qualification. Runners start together on a mass gun start; elite fields are usually seeded ahead of mass waves, and results are taken on gun time for awards and championship purposes (chip time for mass participants). Aid stations offering water and sponges are placed at set intervals, with personal drinks tables allowed for elite athletes at designated points. Pacemakers are permitted in most city races but not in championship events, and no physical assistance, pacing by non-competitors or accompanying vehicles is allowed. Athletes must wear the official bib and approved shoes — World Athletics caps road-shoe sole stack height at 40 mm with a single rigid plate. Failure to follow the marked course, receiving illegal aid, or unsporting conduct brings disqualification, and championship races are subject to in- and out-of-competition anti-doping testing.

Authoritative rulebook: AFI. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across athletics sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced marathon squad list.

Sprints
60m, 100m, 200m, 400m and relays — pure speed and reaction.
Middle & long distance
800m through the marathon — pacing, tactics and endurance.
Hurdles & steeplechase
Technical events combining speed with barrier clearance.
Jumps
High jump, long jump, triple jump and pole vault — best legal mark wins.
Throws
Shot put, discus, hammer, javelin — best legal distance across three or six attempts.
Combined events
Decathlon and heptathlon — points-scored across multiple disciplines.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in marathon at a federation-recognised event.

World Athletics-approved road racing shoes (max 40 mm stack height, single plate)
Lightweight singlet and shorts, plus anti-chafe balm and technical socks
GPS watch and, increasingly, heart-rate or power monitoring for pacing
Race bib with timing chip; elite athletes use personal drinks bottles at designated tables
Energy gels, electrolyte drinks and salt tablets for in-race fuelling
Training support: treadmill/track access, foam rollers, compression wear and physiotherapy

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

Athletics Federation of India

Athletics Federation of India is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Marathon. Its recognition status as we hold it: Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (as at 2026). Recognition is granted year by year, so read the federation profile for the source.

Origin: Ancient Greece
Olympic: Yes
Paralympic: No
Category: Athletics

AFI profile →All federations →

Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in marathon.

New Delhi Marathon
Recognized by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) as India's National Marathon and certified as a World Athletics race — its flat course and cool February weather make it India's fastest marathon. The 2026 edition was won by Kartik Karkera (2:13:10), with Gopi Thonakal second (2:13:12) and defending champion Man Singh third (2:13:15); all three breached the 2026 Asian Games qualification mark of 2:15:04. Nirmaben Thakor won the women's race in 2:41:15.
Tata Mumbai Marathon
Established 2004, the largest marathon in Asia and the largest mass-participation sporting event on the continent, with a prize pool of USD 405,000 and World Athletics Gold Label status since 2010.
Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon
Established 2005, an AIMS-certified Gold Label road race. Avinash Sable set the Indian national half marathon record here (1:00:30), becoming the first Indian to run the distance under 61 minutes.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in marathon.

Asian Marathon Championships
Gopi Thonakal, from Wayanad, Kerala, became the first and so far only Indian to win gold, at Dongguan, China in 2017 (2:15:48). Man Singh won gold at the 2024 edition.
Olympic Games
Three Indians competed in the men's marathon at Rio 2016, with Gopi Thonakal finishing 25th. No Indian qualified for the marathon at Tokyo 2020.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for marathon. The national championship under AFI remains the top domestic competition.

All leagues →

International Players

Globally recognised marathon athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for marathon maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in marathon — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

India's men's national marathon record — 2:12:00, set by Shivnath Singh in Jalandhar in 1978 — has stood for 48 years, one of the longest-standing records in Indian athletics. Gopi Thonakal came within 23 seconds of it at the Valencia Marathon in December 2025 (2:12:23)
The Indian Army and Army Sports Institute remain the dominant pathway — Gopi Thonakal joined the Army at 21 as a general recruit and rose through its athletics programme, as have many of India's leading marathoners
Elite Indian marathoners have noted a real structural gap: Gopi has said Olympic-standard times require conditions 'not there on the Indian domestic circuit,' pushing top runners toward overseas races like Seoul and Valencia to chase qualifying marks
Altitude and terrain training is increasingly used — Gopi relocated his base from Bengaluru to Ooty for hillier, higher-altitude training, which he credits for his 2025 Valencia breakthrough
Playing pathway through AFI-recognized national and state races; India's major city marathons also offer substantial prize money and sponsorship for elite domestic runners

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Related academies

1 listed

Army Sports InstituteElite
Pune, Maharashtra · Since 2001
Indian Army's elite multi-sport institute producing Olympians and Asian Games medallists.

All academies →List your academy →

FAQs

Common questions about marathon in India.

Who governs Marathon in India?▾

We list AFI as the Indian governing/organising body for Marathon, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Marathon an Olympic sport?▾

Yes, Marathon is on the Olympic programme. Athletes selected by AFI against its published criteria can be considered for TOPS funding.

How do I start playing Marathon in India?▾

The usual routes are a school team under the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), a college team under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), or a private academy affiliated to your state association under AFI. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Marathon athletes?▾

TOPS supports a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines selected by the Mission Olympic Cell, rather than every Olympic sport. We hold no current list confirming whether Marathon is among them, so we make no TOPS claim for it. State governments give cash awards to medallists at events they notify. Marathon does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Marathon in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Marathon in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.