India, Feb. 22 -- Kartik Karkera dashed across the finishing line upstaging pre-race favourites T Gopi and Man Singh for a thrilling end to the New Delhi Marathon here on Sunday.

In a race that started at 4am and saw just five seconds separate the top three, Karkera found enough in the reserve to push through, clocking a personal best of 2 hours, 13 mins, 10secs, edging ahead of Army runners Gopi (02:13:12) and Man Singh (02:13:15). All three came under the Asian Games qualification standard of 2:15:04 set by the Athletics Federation of India.

Karkera, a doctor by profession, who has switched to marathon from middle distance this season, was competing in only his third full marathon (42.195km). He finished 10th at the Mumbai Marathon on...