Lagat, Alemu clinch Mumbai Marathon; Rawat for worlds
MUMBAI: ing to set track record — but it was Lagat who stole the show with a terrific display.
Lagat took the decisive lead after completing 29 km and kept on pushing the pacemakers — three at the start in the leading group of 14 — and soon extended his advantage up to one minute.
Lagat emerged with what looked like a humongous lead and ran aggressively to make it a oneman show thereon for the last 10km or so. The 24-year-old from Kenya admitted later that despite enjoying a massive advantage, he was still wary of other runners’ abilities. “It was a good moment to make a break but I also knew there were good runners behind me and from 35km I was never sure how close they were to me,” he said.
SUDHA WINS
Among elite Indian athletes, Sudha Singh and Nitendra Singh Rawat bagged top honours while attaining the qualification marks in their respective sections for the Doha World Championships. Asian Games gold medallist Sudha clocked 2:34:56 to finish first among Indian female runners and also erase OP Jaisha’s course record of 2:37:29, set four years ago.
Jyoti Gawte finished second (2:45:48) while Jigmet Dolma came third in 3:10:42. Like Sudha, Rawat was the star among Indian men as he clocked 2:15:52 to upstage pre-race favourite and defending champion Gopi T who came second with a timing of 2:17:03. Karan Singh finished third clocking 2:20:10.