India, Feb. 21 -- India's top marathon runners will compete in Sunday's New Delhi Marathon, a qualifying event for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September-October. However, they lamented the 4am start to the elite race, concerned about running in the dark which they felt might not be conducive to give their best timings.

The race will be flagged off from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The marathon races in elite category starting at 4am, followed by open category (4.05am), half marathon (06.15am), 10k (07.45am) and 5k (8.30) races.

Among the Indian elite runners will be Rio Olympian T Gopi, who came close to breaking the national marathon record in Valencia, Spain in December. Defending champion Man Singh, AB Belliyappa, Anish Thapa, K...