Mumbai, Jan 15: The annual glittering 14th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) got underway here on Sunday, January 15, with participation of a large ladle of glamour, top sportspersons, corporate bigwigs and commoners enthusiastically making a 'run for it'.

Tanzanian athlete Alphonce Felix Simbu (24) and Kenyan runner Bornes Kitur Chepkirui (31), flew past all competition to bag the top spots in the men's and women's category respectively in the Full Marathon.

Among Indian athletes, army soldier Kheta Ram (31) and Jyoti Shanker Gawte topped the men and women category in the Full Marathon, which saw participation of over 6,000 runners.

In the Half Marathon (21.097-km), the winner in the men's category was G. Lakshmanan and in the women's category it was Monika Athare.

The two were felicitated by Bollywood star John Abraham.

This year, the SCMM notched the highest turnout with 6,342 men and women running for the Full Marathon (42.195-km), 14,663 for Half Marathon and 19,980 for the Dream Run, including many foreigners, representatives from the defence forces and Olympians.

Top corporate, the Asian Heart Institute, several NGOs, public organisations and others took part in different capacities for what is billed as Asia's biggest marathon event with highest prize moneys.

Other top Indian athletes who participated included Elam Singh, Mohammed Yunus, and Ladakh's self-trained runners Jigmet Dolma and Tsetan Dolkar.

IANS