Ranchi, Dec. 7 -- The remote Mahua Dand subdivision of Latehar district hosted the 17th Jharkhand State Cross-country Championship for the first time on Sunday, marking a significant step towards taking organised athletics into Jharkhand's rural and forested heartland.
Held amid natural hill terrain, the championship featured competitions across eight age categories, with athletes from Giridih, Bokaro, Ranchi, Hazaribag, Dhanbad, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Saraikela participating. The men's and women's races were flagged off by Manika MLA Ramchandra Singh.
In the senior men's 10 km race, Deepak Kumar Thakur of Giridih won gold with a timing of 30:38.48, followed by Neeraj Kumar Patel of East Singhbhum (33:06.04) and Lalu Kundlana ...