New Delhi, Oct 5 — An Everest summiteer, senior government officials, corporate leaders and seasoned runners will be among 25 pace setters guiding participants at the Delhi Half Marathon 2026, helping runners stay on track as they chase their target finish times.
The pace setters will lead designated groups, or ‘Buses’, at predetermined speeds during the race. The Half Marathon will feature 17 pacers covering finish-time targets from 1:50 to 2:40, while the 10K will have an all-women team of eight pacers, guiding runners across buses ranging from 55 to 88 minutes.
Eleven of the 25 pace setters are from outside the Delhi-NCR region, representing cities and regions including Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Darjeeling, Jammu and Jharkhand. The group also includes senior government professionals such as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Rajat Agarwal, Joint Director (Finance), Railway Board.
Several members of the pacing squad bring considerable experience at the event. Deepak Sharma will make his 16th appearance at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, while Ganesh Ananthanaraynan enters his 13th edition with a personal best of 1:48. Sanjay Chhabra, meanwhile, is set to participate in his 12th consecutive Delhi Half Marathon.
Thandeswaran Periyasamy, Delivery Head and founder of Hosur Runners Club, brings a particularly notable endurance record. He has run for more than 2,850 consecutive days since September 2018, covering over 22,000 km. His feat has earned recognition in the International, Asia and India Book of Records. He previously paced the 2:30 bus at VDHM 2025.
Rashmi Mohanty, Chief Financial Officer at SBI Credit Card and an ultra-marathoner, will also return to the event. She ran her first half marathon at VDHM in November 2010 and was felicitated in 2025 after completing 15 editions.
The 10K pacing team will feature Chinmayee J Thrishulamurthy, a practising ophthalmologist and faculty member from Bengaluru who brings an unusual endurance credential to the field. A trained search, treat and rescue mountaineer, she scaled Mount Everest earlier in 2026.
With the 25-member pacing squad combining elite endurance experience, professional expertise and years of participation in the Delhi Half Marathon, the pacers will play a key role in helping runners manage their effort and stay within reach of their individual race-day targets.