Kenya’s Ruto overcomes stiff challenge to win Mumbai Marathon

Mumbai: Kenyan Evans Ruto overcome stiff challenge from a strong field and windy conditions to win his maiden Mumbai Marathon title, but barely missed the course record in men’s race. Last year’s runner-up Dinknesh Mekash (Ethiopia) went one place higher to win the women’s crown.

The male runners commenced their race in a cool 7:20 a.m. start. However the mercury climbed up thereafter. Pacemakers Michael Mutai (Kenya) and Soyekwo Kibet (Uganda) led as much as sixteen runners in the first quarter of the race. Ethiopia’s Hailu Mekonnen, former World cross-country silver medallist and 2011 Tokyo marathon winner, who was a pre-race favourite for the title was also in the leading bunch.

While the runners maintained 3 minutes per kilometere pace until they entered the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link just after the 14K mark, a strong velocity of wind curtailed their tempo on the sea-bridge. At that point Kenyan Lawrence Kimaiyo, credited with a personal best 2:07:01 from his Kosice marathon victory two years ago, become visible at the front. He went through the half-way mark in 1:04:44 with compatriot Julius Chepkwony. Join the front-running with Mutai and Kimaiyo in the third quarter of the race was teammate Philemon Baaru. Second at Kosice behind Kimaiyo, Baaru sent out a warning to the leader that he would not take it for granted. The trio led a splinter of group of about 10 men on their return journey at the Worli Sea-face. Few minutes later they spirited away from the rest with Evans Ruto and Stephen Chebogut joined the fray as the four runners passed along Mumbai’s popular Mahalaxmi Race Course while pacemaker Mutai trailing behind.


Ruto made his ‘kick’ in the last kilometre and went on to win the race in 2:09:33, just 1 second off the course record set by Ugandan Jackson Kiprop last year thus missed the course record bonus of USD 15,000. Incidentally it was the third fastest time in Ruto’s career as also the third fastest time of the year after Xiamen marathon held at the beginning of the year. “There was no one to push me at the last stages of the race besides the wind-effect that caused certain extent on the timing” Ruto explained after the race although he was immensely satisfied with the weather. The 30-year-old runner, who has been started running since he was 18, used to run two full marathon and one half-marathon races each year. “Both Kimaiyo and Baaru were ahead when I clocked my personal best 2:07:49 two years ago at Kosice, hence naturally a threat to me. However once I crossed the 41 Km mark I realised the race was mine and went on to grab it” a beaming Ruto told the media after pocketing his USD 41,000 prize purse.

Kimaiyo (2:09:45) and Baaru (2:09:58) made it a Kenyan sweep on the podium. It was the first time that all the podium finishers in Mumbai clocked sub 2:10:00 timings. Earlier the top-two finishers did this in 2011 and 2013.

Women’s race: Dinknesh won, but runner-up Gladys had a story to share

Unlike in the men’s race where a strong batch controlled the race in most part, there were only two ladies dominated the scene here. One of them, Kenyan Gladys Kipsoi, was running only her second marathon in career here.

Gladys was a strong half-marathon runner and credited with a time of 1:09:11 to win her title in Paris last year. Having lost her father at the early age, Gladys made running as a career to earn for her family of nine. “I was sixth among the eight children (six daughters and two brothers) to my parents. After my schooling I have become a career runner mainly to help the family. My elder sister is working but mother is a home-maker” said the 28-year-old who hails from Kapsabet, a hilly terrain in Kenya which is the native place of Beijing Olympic 800m gold medallist Pamela Jelimo.

Before her Mumbai sojourn Kipsoi had only one race on the full marathon distance last year which she won in a modest 2:40:05 on the high-altitude Kampala, Uganda, in November. The flat sea-side course in Mumbai helped her returning a time of 2:29:53 and that will certainly boost her morale to seriously try out for a better performance in the coming years. Kipsoi received USD 21,000 for her second place behind Dinknesh Mekash. The Ethiopian, familiar with the course after her runner-up position last year, improved her timing to 2:28:08 for the top spot that fetched USD 41,000 winner’s check. Both Dinknesh and Kipsoi promised a come-back next year to put-up a better display that ensures a healthy rivalry among them.

Bizunesh Urgesa, the Ethiopian who won the Mumbai title in 2010, finished third with a career best 2:30:00 clocking.

Lalita best among the Indian women
In the men’s race Karan Singh finished top among the Indians. However his winning time of 2:24:08 was the slowest in eight years. Last year’s winner Binning Lyngkhoi finished a poor third in 2:24:40 as country-mate Rashpal Singh sprinted past for the second place two seconds ahead of him.

However Lalita Babbar showed some improvement in the women’s race as she set a new bench mark for the Indian Ladies with a time of 2:50:31 for a “hat-trick” of wins here. That made her richer by INR 600,000 (which includes a course record jackpot of INR 100,000).

In the half-marathon, Indians Indrajeet Patel (1:04:56) and Sudha Singh (1:18:24) take away the top spots. For Sudha it was second successive gold in Mumbai. Her training partner Kavita Raut, the national record-holder in this distance with 1:14:52, finished second in 1:21:15 today.

Running with a cause of helping various NGOs, the eleventh edition of Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is expected to generate as much as 20 Crores in Indian Rupees towards charitable drive this year.

Leading Results (Prize money in parenthesis)--

MEN:

1 Evans Ruto KEN 2:09:33 (USD 41,000)
2 Lawrence Kimaiyo KEN 2:09:45 (USD 21,000)
3 Philemon Baaru KEN 2:09:58 (USD 15,000)
4 Stephen Chebogut KEN 2:10:56 (USD 10,000)
5 Ishhimael Bushendich KEN 2:11:18 (USD 8,000)
6 Julius Chepkwony KEN 2:11:37 (USD 5,000)
7 Evans Cheruiyot KEN 2:12:08 (USD 4,000)
8 Hailu Mekonnen ETH 2:12:17 (USD 3,000)
9 Wosen Zeleke ETH 2:12:54 (USD 2,000)
10 Kenneth Mungara KEN 2:14:13 (USD 1,000)
11 Patrick Korir KEN 2:15:36
12 Gosa Girma ETH 2:15:45
13 Patrick Biwott KEN 2:18:13
14 Dickson Marwa TAN 2:21:22
15 Prodigal Kumalo ZIM 2:24:04
16 Karan Singh IND 2:24:08 (INR 500,000)
17 Rashpal Singh IND 2:24:38 (INR 400,000)
18 Binning Lyngkhoi IND 2:24:40 (INR 300,000)
19 Elam Singh IND 2:24:56 (INR 225,000)
20 Sanvaroo Yadav IND 2:26:00 (INR 175,000)
.. Amritpal Singh IND 2:30:00 (INR 150,000)
.. Krishan Singh IND 2:30:22 (INR 100,000)
.. Dasari Obilesu IND 2:30:30 (INR 50,000)
.. Javid Iqbal IND 2:31:21 (INR 50,000)
.. Sanaton O Singh IND 2:32:52 (INR 50,000)

WOMEN:

1 Dinknesh Mekash ETH 2:28:08 (USD 41,000)
2 Gladys Kipsoi KEN 2:29:53 (USD 21,000)
3 Bizunesh Urgesa ETH 2:30:00 (USD 15,000)
4 Etalemahu Kidane ETH 2:31:53 (USD 10,000)
5 Asnakech Mengistu ETH 2:32:42 (USD 8,000)
6 Aberu Mekuria ETH 2:33:21 (USD 5,000)
7 Ehite Bizuayehu ETH 2:33:48 (USD 4,000)
8 Tsega Gelaw ETH 2:34:35 (USD 3,000)
9 Alem Kifle ETH 2:35:13 (USD 2,000)
10 Eunice Kales KEN 2:36:02 (USD 1,000)
11 Eunice Jeptoo KEN 2:41:06
12 Lalita Babbar IND 2:50:31 (INR 500,000 + 100,000)
13 Vijaymala Patil IND 2:59:58 (INR 400,000)
14 Jyoti Gawate IND 3:02:59 (INR 300,000)
15 M Sudha IND 3:08:17 (INR 225,000)
16 Rohini Raut IND 3:11:32 (INR 175,000)
17 Monika Raut IND 3:15:46 (INR 150,000)
18 Ranjana Kumari IND 3:16:56 (INR 100,000)
19 Rashmi Gurnule IND 3:17:37 (INR 50,000)
20 Supriya Patil IND 3:30:47 (INR 50,000)
.. Shyamli Singh IND 3:30:51 (INR 50,000)

HALF-MARATHON:

Men:
1 Indrajeet Patel IND 1:04:56
2 Soji Mathew IND 1:05:45
3 Man Singh IND 1:06:17
4 A B Baliappa IND 1:06:23
5 Deepak Kumbhar IND 1:06:38

Women:
1 Sudha Singh IND 1:18:24
2 Kavita Raut IND 1:21:15
3 Kiran Sahdev IND 1:21:57
4 Aarthi Venkatesan IND 1:22:53
5 Heena Mali IND 1:24:08