Everest Summiteer Among 25 Pacers Set to Lead Runners at Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2026

For thousands of runners, the toughest part of race day is often not starting the race but knowing how to pace it.

At the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2026, 25 experienced runners will take on that responsibility, guiding participants through the course towards specific finish-time targets. Among them will be an Everest summiteer, senior government officials, CXOs, entrepreneurs and runners with years of experience on the Delhi roads.

The 2026 edition will be held on October 18, with the Half Marathon starting and finishing at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The 21.097-km race is officially measured and certified, adding significance to the pacing targets set for the event.

A pacer, or pace setter, runs at a controlled and consistent speed so that a group of runners known as a ‘Bus’ can stay together and aim for a predetermined finishing time. A runner joining the Sub-2:30 Bus, for example, can expect to target a finish between approximately 2:25 and 2:29. This year, 17 pacers will lead the Half Marathon buses from 1:50 to 2:40, while the Open 10K will have an all-women group of eight pacers covering target times from 55 to 88 minutes.

The pacer group brings together runners from across India, with 11 of the 25 coming from outside Delhi NCR. Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Darjeeling, Jammu and Jharkhand are among the locations represented, giving the pacing squad a national character. Several of the pacers have built a long association with the Delhi race.

Deepak Sharma will participate in his 16th edition of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, while Ganesh Ananthanaraynan brings 13 editions of experience and a personal best of 1:48. Sanjay Chhabra, meanwhile, is set to run his 12th consecutive Delhi Half Marathon. Their experience is valuable because pacing a large group requires more than simply maintaining a particular kilometre split. Pacers have to judge the rhythm of the runners around them, maintain consistency and prevent the group from going out too quickly in the opening kilometres.

For runners chasing a personal target, that discipline can be the difference between holding their pace through the final kilometres and fading late in the race.

Thandeswaran's Extraordinary Running Streak

One of the most unusual stories in the Pacing Squad belongs to Thandeswaran Periyasamy, Delivery Head and founder of Hosur Runners Club. Periyasamy has run for more than 2,850 consecutive days since September 2018, covering over 22,000 kilometers. His consistency has earned him recognition in the International, Asian, and Indian Book of Records for consecutive-day running.

He also knows the pacer's role at this particular event, having led the 2:30 Bus at the 2025 Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon. This year, he will target the 2:15 group.

Rashmi Mohanty, Chief Financial Officer at SBI Credit Card and an ultra-marathoner, represents another side of the event's long-running community. Mohanty ran her first half marathon at the Delhi race in November 2010 and was felicitated in 2025 after completing 15 editions. Her involvement as a pacer is therefore about more than the stopwatch. It is also about helping other runners experience the event she has returned to year after year.

Her own philosophy is centered on consistency, while her advice to participants is notably practical: arriving at the start line healthy and strong matters more than trying to compensate for inadequate preparation with excessive last-minute training. She will lead the 2:35 Bus this year.

Perhaps the most distinctive member of the 2026 pacing squad is Dr. Chinmayee J Thrishulamurthy. A practising ophthalmologist and faculty member from Bengaluru, Dr. Chinmayee is also a trained search, treat and rescue mountaineer. Earlier in 2026, she summited Mount Everest. Her route to the mountains began with running in 2017 before she moved into mountaineering in 2019. Now she is returning to running in a different role: as a first-time pacer at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon.

She will lead the 85-minute Open 10K Bus and will also be running her first race in Delhi. The contrast is striking. Everest demands prolonged endurance over an expedition lasting several weeks, while a 10K requires controlled effort over a much shorter period. Yet the underlying principle is similar: managing effort and staying composed when fatigue begins to build.

Her advice to first-time race participants is equally uncomplicated runners should not become obsessed with pace and should instead enjoy the experience at a speed they can sustain.

The Open 10K pacing squad will be entirely female. Dickey Palzom Bhutia will lead the 55-minute bus, followed by Shivani Verma at 60 minutes, Shalu Dudeja at 65, Riya Kakkad at 70, Shweta Mittal at 75, Kiran Chhillar at 80, Dr. Chinmayee at 85 and Dimple Thakur at 88 minutes. The structure gives runners a clear range of achievable targets and allows participants to identify a group matching their intended finish time.

The pacers are not the headline athletes of the race, but their role is central to the experience of thousands of participants. The 2026 squad brings together competitive runners, endurance athletes, professionals, and experienced participants who understand the demands of the course. Their job will be to make the numbers on the clock easier for others to manage.

On October 18, when the field leaves Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, 25 runners will have a simple responsibility: set the rhythm, hold the pace and bring their Bus home on target.

For some, that will mean chasing 1:50. For others, it will mean 2:40 or 88 minutes over 10K.

And for one Everest summiteer, it will mean exchanging the world's highest mountain for the streets of Delhi — and helping others discover just how far they can go.