NEW DELHI: Last year's runner-up, Ethiopia'sLelisa Desisa won the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in a sizzling 59 minutes and 30 seconds on Sunday.
He bettered last year's winning time of 59.38. Desisa was followed by Kenya's Geoffrey Kipsang with 59.31 while his compatriot, Mike Kigen took the third place with 59.58.
It was Milton Rotich who led thousands of runners at the 10-km mark in just 28.28. He led the course till Dr Zakir Hussain Marg before a group of 20 similar-looking Kenyans and Ethiopians increased the pace and Rotich fell behind.
At India Gate, the tightly knit group began to split. After a point, the group was reduced to six athletes including Desisa, race favourite and fastest man on the list Sammy Kitwara, Philemon Limo, Geofrrey Kipsang and Dino Sefir.
While coming towards the finish line, Limo and Sefir couldn't keep up the pace. Kitwara too started to trail with 3 kms to go. "The competition was good, I ran my best time. But I am not very happy with the time, I had cold, and could have easily run in 58 minutes," Desisa told TOI. Last year, Desisa had clocked 59min and 39sec.
Kipsang, who lost by just one second, said: "After 15k I pushed hard, and was at par with others. But Desisa sprinted in last 200m; I chased but couldn't catch him." Race favourite Kitwara was certainly not a happy man finishing fifth with one hour and 9 seconds.
Among women, Luch Kabuu of Kenya kept her pre-race promise of winning but missed breaking the meet record by 10 seconds. Kabuu clocked 1:07.04. The record stands at 1:06.54 in the name of Kenya's Mary Keitany which was created in 2009.
Defending champion Aselefch Mergia of Ethiopia, in her fifth appearance in Delhi, led for most part of the race but finished third. Kenya's Sharon Cherop finished just 2 seconds after Kabuu to take the second spot. All three women clocked their best timings.
"I have to thank God for making me strong. I gave my personal best and enjoyed the race as the course was flat and good. We supported each other during the course," Kabuu said in a post race conference.
Kabuu, who took three year's off from running to become a mother and look after the baby, dedicated the win to her family, husband-cum-coach-coach and daughter. Mergia was content with her podium finish, and said: "It was a very good course and I had a good race. I am happy with the time." Impressed with the event, Cherop said she wanted to be back next year. "If they invite me, I'll come again. Now I'll target 2 hours and 20 minutes in full marathon," Cherop said.
Both Desisa and Kabuu pocketed the winner's cheque of $25,000 each. The first and second runner-up in both categories took away $15,000 and $10,000 respectively.
The Half marathon was flagged off by sports minister Ajay Maken in the presence of chief minister Sheila Dikshit at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
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