Delhi Half Marathon: African athletes emerge victorious

01 October, 2012

For long, athletes from the African continent have dominated marathons, held across the world. The same story was written during the Delhi Half Marathon on last Sunday as well, as runners from Africa, braving hot and humid conditions, sealed the victory, much to the dismay of Indian fans.

THE DELHI Half Marathon has been a regular feature in the annual marathon calendar since it started in 2005. Some of the best runners participate in the event, which has been a huge success in its past seven editions. Kenya's Edwin Kipyego and Ethiopia's Yimer Wude won the men's and women's marathon respectively, held in Delhi on September 30.

It is not for the first time that an athlete from the African continent has won this race, as in the past as well, Kenyan and the Ethiopian runners dominated the sport. But, it is embarrassing that Indians have not been able to win the title even once. Though, Indian marathon runners receive full support from the fans during the course, but still, they stand nowhere close to the African athletes.

If we look at the conditions in which these athletes had to run, the Indians know them better, as they are born and brought up running in such streets and courses. Soj Mathew, M D Yunus, V L Dangi, Kheta Ram and Ajay Patel in the men's category, and Lalita, Monica Athare, Kavita and Sudha Singh represented India in the women's category. They were simply not a match to the African runners, for whom winning the championship has become a cakewalk.

The best Indian in the race was Rahul Kumar Pal who finished 16th with a timing of 1:06:12s and Sudha Singh finished her race with a timing of 1:19:34 in the men's and the women's category respectively, reported rediff.com. The winners, Kipyego and Wude, however finished the race in 1 hour and 55 seconds 1 hour and 11 seconds respectively.

No big names have been heard in the Indian marathon arena, though from time to time, we have had some middle distance runners in the 1500 and 3000 metre-category, who earned a name for themselves in the international circuit. The two most noticeable athletes are Bahadur Singh and Surendra Singh. The only Indian who participated in the marathon during the 2012 London Olympics was Ram Singh Yadav, who finished at 78th place.