Deriba Merga wins Delhi Half Marathon

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Last year's winner in the men's category Ethiopian Deriba Merga defended his men's title, he finished the event clocking 59.54 minutes, in the women's category Kenyan Mary Keitany clinched the title in one hour 6.54 minutes.

CJ: Rajiv Azad

Mon, Nov 02, 2009 09:23:28 IST

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World’s most expensive half marathon, Delhi Half Marathon culminated yesterday (1 November) with much fanfare and joy. Around 30, 000 people took part in the prestigious sporting event. Celebrities from the world of sports, cinema and corporate too graced the occasion. King of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan was the star attraction of the event.

Airtel head honcho Sunil Bharti Mittal, his brother Rajan Mittal, Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit, Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh Kalmadi and former IPS Kiran Bedi were among the many big names present on the occasion.

Dabur group’s Vice President Amit Burman took part in the 7 km race category and ran along with his wife, he took 34 minutes to complete and was ecstatic on being associated with the race. The main event 21 km race began at 7:30am with around 10,000 taking part in the event, including professional runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Australia, England and America. The entire atmosphere was euphoric, with hundreds of people lined around the route to encourage the runners. They were clapping to encourage the runners. Small kids were also present along with their parents and elders witnessing the event happily.

Media persons from leading news channels covered the event and were seen with their team in the entire stretch of the event. Senior citizens and physically challenged people also took part in their respective event, senior citizen’s race and wheel chair race. Former Australian cricket captain Allan Border and Olympic Champion in the 400 metre Sydney Olympic Cathey Freeman too were present on the occasion as they were brand ambassador for the event this year.

Last year's winner in the men’s category Ethiopian Deriba Merga defended his men’s title, he finished the event clocking 59.54 minutes, in the women’s category Kenyan Mary Keitany clinched the title in one hour 6.54 minutes. For India Army man Deepchand Saharan was the top most finisher, he took one hour 04 minute to finish the event. In the women’s section in the Indian category Sukanya Mall was the fastest, she took 1:20:11 to finish the event.

This year, for me it was a special Delhi Half Marathon, as it was my third marathon in a trot. Now I have three Half Marathon medals to boost my morale. Some of my friends also took part in the event, including Bhupinder, Suresh Dabral, Jagannath Moharana, Tejas, Shailesh, Deepak and Abhishek . One of our friends Jagannath despite being on the heavier side surprised us by finishing the race cheerfully.

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Posted comments (1)

	HI RajivThanks for disply my name.but some mistake : my name is Jagannath Maharana not a jagannath moharanaThanks for articles
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