When one hears about the picturesque Ladakh, it conjures up images of high mountains, shepherds and military presence but to have a Half Marathon winner at the Tata Mumbai Marathon from this part of the world is truly exceptional.
Stanzin Dolkar emerged the winner in the Women's Half-Marathon with a timing of 1:25.51 in what was her fifth appearance at the Tata Mumbai Marathon. Having completed her BA in Physical Education in Ladakh, Stanzin is currently pursuing her Masters and was in great form at the TM on Sunday.
Stanzin felt the conditions were quite favourable as far as the runners were concerned. "The weather was much better this year as compared to last year. After the first 5-6 km, the weather was quite pleasant and good conditions to run."
She also was of the opinion that her planning and preparation was good this time around. "The preparation was good this year in comparison to last year. I got my personal best at the Pune Marathon of 1:24 and had also run the Vasai-Virar Marathon. I came second in the Vasai-Virar Marathon while I finished eighth in the Pune Marathon. The competition was quite tough in Pune and but my performance was good," she added.
Power-packed performance!
— Tata Mumbai Marathon (@TataMumMarathon) January 19, 2025
Stanzin Dolkar crosses the half marathon finish line with a stellar timing of 1:25:51*!
*Provisional Timing#TMM2025 #ChangeBeganHere pic.twitter.com/MG5IbfexL5
Stanzin names people behind her success
Talking about her journey, Stanzin spoke about the support she received in Ladakh from one of the companies initially and then the Ladakah UT administration.
"The organisers of the Ladakh Marathon, Rimo Expedition, they were the sponsors and in 2019 when Ladakh became a Union Territory then the administration did everything for us. They would sponsor all our travel and other expenses wherever we go," he added.
"My family consists of parents, two sisters and two brothers and we don't have any restrictions as far as running is concerned. They are all very supportive. They have never criticized anything that I wanted to do with regard to running and have always been supportive."
Stanzin's goal has been to run like the Elite runners. "I always felt inspired by seeing the Elite runners and wanted to emulate them by running like them. I would get a lot of enthusiasm watching the Elite field run."
The young lass loves football and cricket apart from running and is a big fan of Lionel Messi and Virat Kohli.