Kipchumba, Dibaba out to rule Delhi roads

Despite organising the event a month earlier to skip the city’s notorious post- Diwali smog, there is no respite for the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon organisers. For the last 10 days the air quality has again dipped in the capital, but the top athletes are not too concerned.

“We have an early morning race so it will not affect us much,” said Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba, a threetime Olympic gold medallist.

Dibaba will lead an elite women’s field that also includes Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, the current world half marathon record holder with a timing of 1 minute 04.51 seconds clocked in Valencia last year.

On a flat and fast course here, Dibaba hopes to leave the country with the $ 27,000 prize money. She recently won the Berlin Half Marathon and is aiming to keep the momentum Singh Rawat, who is the defending champion and course record holder in the Indian section, will lead the local challenge.

The two ran a thrilling race at the 2018 Tata Mumbai Marathon where Gopi pipped Rawat in the last 200 metres to become the top finisher among Indians.

Avinash Sable, who stood third in the 2017 edition, will also add teeth to the competition. In the recently concluded Open National Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, Sable clinched gold in the 3,000m Steeplechase erasing the 37- year- old national record in the process.

Sanjivani Jadhav Monica Athare will the Indian women’s category.

The $ 2,80,000 event will witness participants running in four race categories — Half Marathon ( elite & amateur), Great Delhi Run, 10K Run, Senior Citizens and Champions with Disability. and highlight elite