Runner Santoshi Shrestha had nothing to lose while running in the Kantipur Half Marathon on Saturday. Because she, who was nicknamed the 'Golden Girl', had recently suffered a defeat that had given her a new perspective on life. That's the beauty of sports, defeat teaches a lot.

Perhaps this learning made Santoshi the winner of the women's category of the Kantipur Half Marathon. Santoshi won the 21.1-kilometer half marathon in 1 hour 18.11 minutes.

She from Dhading had completed the distance in 1 hour 23.28 minutes last year. Nisha Pal came in second with 1 hour 18.26 minutes and Purnalakshmi Neupane came in third with 1 hour 23.13 seconds.

Santoshi was finding it difficult to handle the dummy check and trophy worth Rs 150,000, perhaps she had not felt this difficult even when she was running on the dusty road from Suryabinayak during the race. She has suffered only one defeat in the last 8 years. She was defeated in the Lumbini International Peace Marathon on Chaitra 7. Improving her performance from the previous year, Santoshi finished second despite taking a time of 1 hour 18.40 minutes. Army's Purnalakshmi overtook Santoshi by covering the distance in 1 hour 17.10 minutes.

'I was training for the marathon, suddenly I had increased the mileage, but I was doing something different from the coach's training, I had changed the training even though the coach said that I should set a record in 3,000 meters.' But life doesn't give as it says, what I trained for is what happens,' Santoshi said about her latest defeat, 'That day wasn't mine, my friends also ran well, I have to praise them . I ran badly too . It was raining and my muscles were jammed, making it difficult to run .'

She felt that such a defeat was necessary . Because it motivated her to run better . She is also grateful for the defeat . It's not that she didn't feel worried about herself for a moment after the defeat, but she thinks that the defeat removed all the fears she had about herself . 

Santoshi says that she won the Kantipur Half Marathon title by running safely . She said that she won the race strategically by playing the Flow game first and then the Together game . 'I wasn't prepared for this race and I was the person who lost the other day . Whenever I run with the lead, this time I ran behind others, and after reaching Lokanthali, I took the lead,' Santoshi said, 'I have been running with Nisha and I since last year, whenever she has done well when I run with her, that's why we had a good competition. We ran in a group for 7-8 km, then Nisha and I moved forward.'

She said that the route in front of Suyavinayak was a bit difficult because the road was under construction. She said, 'The road was dusty, I am allergic to dust, it was a bit difficult at that time.' I talk a lot while running, today I ran without talking to anyone, I used to scold those who disturbed me on the route, this time I ran in unison .’

Santoshi broke Rajkumari Pandey’s 36-year-old national record while running 3,000 meters at the Pokhara Athletics Meet on Monday. After the Pokhara success, Santoshi set national records in all events from middle distance to marathon . Santoshi herself claimed that no one athlete has so many records in their name . 

Santoshi has set national records in 3,000, 5,000, 10,000 runs, 25 km, 30 km, and half marathon . Records are made to be broken, but since such records are rare, Santoshi is very enthusiastic about it . Perhaps this record will not be broken, Santoshi also questions herself . In all this, she set a course record in the Kantipur Half Marathon on Saturday, which is like a blessing for her.

‘Running 3,000 meters on the track and then running in the half marathon is no joke. That’s why there was some fear, some doubt. I had run on the track wearing spikes, I have to run in a marathon, I was in doubt because I was thinking that I am not a machine,’ Santoshi said, ‘There is nothing to lose than retreating in fear of what will happen, how will it happen, I ran to create a history that no one will erase.’

She got into sports to be an example. She feels that she has been able to fulfill that to some extent. It is a decade-old story, Santoshi had run the Kantipur Half Marathon twice, when she was just starting out. She came second twice. After that, she never got the opportunity to run in the Kantipur Half Marathon. Sometimes she was somewhere, sometimes somewhere. In the meantime, she also ran in the Paris Olympics. One day, she had to win the Kantipur Half Marathon no matter what, and this time she defended the title she won last year.

She said that she ran this time even though it was the last one because she had won it last year. ‘I ran this time to test myself, to understand my limits, to see what kind of performance I could give with such a practice schedule, such training and fatigue, and how much I could use my mind,’ she said.

After so many successes, more dreams have come true than she thought. But there are 2-3 such dreams in particular, which she is aiming to fulfill. She did not want to reveal that dream.

‘Let this half marathon become a ‘gold level’’