New Delhi: Kenya’s Alex Matata was cruising to the end however Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei stole victory with an exhilarating late cost within the Elite Males’s class of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon right here on Sunday.
Cheptegei, the Paris Olympics 10,000m champion and the 5,000m gold medallist in Tokyo, clocked 59 minutes, 46 seconds in a superb transition from observe to highway working. Matata, the race chief for essentially the most half, got here second in 59:53 with Kenyan compatriot Nicholas Kipkorir third (59:59).
Ethiopia’s Alemaddis Eyayu (1 hr, 08 min, 17secs) gained the ladies’s elite race, forward of Kenyan favorite Cynthia Limo (1:08:27). Tiruye Mesfin of Ethiopia (1:09:42) completed third.
The nice and cozy and humid circumstances made it powerful for the runners. Alemaddis collapsed on the turf on finishing the race, grimacing. Lili Das, the perfect Indian within the girls’s elite class, badly cramped and was in sheer agony and on her abdomen on crossing the end.
Within the males’s race, the highest trio pushed one another for a sub-60 minutes end however stated the humidity made it tough to maintain up the tempo.
Noone would know higher than Matata, who had a cushty lead over Cheptegei and Kipkorir. There was sufficient drama although for the spectators on the ultimate stretch coming into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
“After I pushed to the 18km, I felt the humidity was not good for me. There was lot of humidity and I felt like stitches on myself. In truth, I assumed I used to be already a winner, however sadly my senior (Joshua) got here from nowhere and (gained). I recognize it as a result of this race was not simple for everyone,” stated Matata.
It was with three kilometres to go that Cheptegei elevated his tempo, first catching up with Kipkorir after which placing Matata beneath stress. He closed the hole as Matata slowed down with fatigue. With barely 800m to go, Cheptegei went previous Matata contained in the stadium and had sufficient in his tank to comfortably pull by.
Cheptegei, 28, additionally the reigning 10,000m world champion, is making his foray into highway working after his stupendous success in distance occasions on the observe. On Sunday, he confirmed why he might be on the high of the world in marathons too.
“Right this moment was a really special occasion as a result of it was a kind of races the place you check your thoughts. For me, at first, I used to be feeling some issues with the ft, the nails. However then I used to be persisting, after which I stated, “okay, perhaps I can struggle for that place”,” Cheptegei stated.
With each kilometre in direction of the top, Cheptegei was assessing his plans. “I used to be feeling once more okay; by 16-17 kilometers I stated “it’s simply 4 km to go, let me see if I can catch my good friend Nicholas”. From there, we pushed one another from 19 as much as 20. Then I noticed that even No.1 was doable.”
“I wish to thank my colleagues, Alex, and my longtime good friend Nicholas. We’ve been working with Nicholas for a few years now, whether or not it’s cross-country or observe, whether or not it’s the Olympics or (world) championships. So, that is actually an amazing pleasure to run with unbelievable athletes like them.”
Ethiopians have dominated the Delhi half marathon and Alemaddis maintained the custom among the many girls. Kenya’s Cynthia Limo, who gained the title right here in 2015, and the opposite Ethiopian Tiruye Mesfin additionally stayed within the hunt till Alemaddis pulled away midway into the race, maintained her lead until the top.
“I had a great race. I attempted to maintain my tempo and aimed to complete effectively,” Alemaddis stated.
Sawan wins; Lili-Kavita tussle
Sawan Barwal impressed with a powerful end, clocking 1:02:46 to win the Indian contest. The Himachal Pradesh runner completed forward of Puneet Yadav (1:03:55) with Kiran Matre (1:04:58) coming third.
There was some controversy amongst Indian girls with defending champion Kavita Yadav accusing winner Lili Das of “disturbing me”. Lili, working her first half marathon, clocked 1:18:12 whereas Kavita got here second at 1:19:44. Asian Video games 3,000m steeplechase bronze medallist Priti Lamba was third (1:20:20).
“When she broke away from the group after 12km after which I got here behind her, she stored telling me “don’t run behind me, preserve distance or run beside me”. She stored disturbing me from there on. I’ve by no means confronted this earlier than,” stated Kavita.
Lili denied that. “I didn’t disturb her. I simply informed her to run beside me, we will take the race collectively. I’m a great finisher as a result of I do 800 and 1500m. I used to be assured of profitable and I continued with the identical tempo. Perhaps we spoke a bit, however it’s not proper that you simply complain about me in public. Your entire highway is there to run,” stated Lili, who hails from Kolkata and trains in Bengaluru.