John Kela Marathon winner; Indians dominate half marathon

Mumbai, Jan 21 (UNI) Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, which is in its fourth year was won by John Kelai from Kenya today by completing the race in 2:12:28.

The race that created enthusism in the city with nearly 30,000 people from all walks of life participating in the international event created a new life on the roads of Mumbai starting from Azad Maidan near Chhatrapati shivaji terminus in south Mumjbai via Marine Drive-Worli to Bandra and back.

Many celebrities including industrialist Anil Ambani, Jackie Shroff, Manisha Koirala participated in this run which included the older ones and the wheel chair.

Even as African runners were dominant in the marathon; in half marathon it was the dominance of Indians.

In men's marathon John Kelai was closely followed by Gasshaw Melese Asfaw, (Ethoipia) with 2:12:33 who stood second and another Ethiopian Tariku Jufar, who covered the distance in 2:12:50 to get the third position.

Talking to reporters Kelai said ''I was prepared more this time and it helped me a lot to win the marathon''. He walked away with a prize money of Rs 31,500 US Dollars while the other two with 21,000 and 13,000 US Dollars respectively.

African monopoly in marathon was broken by Chinese in women's marathon as Yang Ziao Shu achieved the first position by convering the distance in 2:36:17. She got the prize of 25000 Dollars.

She was followed by Letay Nagesh (Ethiopia) and Jenniffer Chesinon (Kenya), who covered the distance in 2:37:05 and 2:38:14 to walk away with the prize money of 17500 snf 11500 US Dollars.

The Indians who excelled in the marathon included Ram singh Yadav, an armyman and a resident of Varanasi who stood at 16th position by completing the distance in 2:20:34 and by securing 16th place. He was given a prize of 2200 Dollars.

Ram singh said that due to muscle pull he could not complete the distance two to three minutes before.

Bipul Saharia who completed the distance in 2:26:24 secured 26th place and got the reward of US Dollars 1850, while Shivdhan singh who secured 28th place to complete the distance in 2:26:51 got the reward of 1600 Dollars. Shivdhan singh is also from army.

In women's marathon Lelamma Alphonso secured 16th position by completing the distance in 2:59:49 to secure the 16th position.

The other two Indian women were Indresh Dhiraj and Satyabhama. All the three women got the award of 2200, 1850 and 1600 dollars respectively.

Madhuri Gurnule, who hails from Nagpur won the Half marathon in the standard chartered Mumbai marathon by completing the distance in 1:08:03 and walking away with the prize money of 1100 dollars.

Gurnule, who was at second position in last year in the half marathon field that this year there was no competition for her. Her statement was correct as the runner up in this category Fabiola Oppliger (switzerland) completed the distance in 1:26:44 and Bhagwati (India) in 1:27:49. The other two got the award of US dollars 800 and 550 dollars respectively.

In Men's half marathon there was complete Indian dominance as Deep Chand was the winner to complete the distance in 1:08:03 to walk away with prize money of 1100 dollars. He was closely followed by Bhairav Singh Lone with 1:08:25 timing and Sachin Sonawane with 1:08:27. The two were given the prize money of 800 and 550 Dollars respectively.

The marathon created enthusism all over Mumbai as the kids, celebrities and common man were on the streets to watch, enjoy and cheer up the participants.

UNI