Lalita sets record, wins gold
Steeplechase runner betters Kavita Raut’s mark to emerge top Indian woman
IN THE ELITE WOMEN’S SECTION, THE FOCUS WAS ON KENYA’S KIPLAGAT, BUT CHICAGO MARATHON WINNER HAD A POOR DAY
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Half Marathon didn’t favour the prerace favourites as Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea in the men’s group, and Kenya’s top woman runner Florence Kiplagat faded away.
Sunday proved a turning point for Lalita Babar, better known as a 3000m steeplechase runner, as she won the Indian women’s title in a record time of 1:10:52. The previous record of 1:17:12 was set by Kavita Raut in 2008.
The country’s top women runners hogged the spotlight as the trio shattered the meet mark by a margin to etch a new chapter in distance running.
In the elite women’s section, the focus was on Kiplagat but the winner of the Chicago Marathon failed to put in her best which denied her a podium finish. The winner was Cynthia Limo of Kenya. She clocked 1:08:35. With Helah Kiprop and Gladys Chesire completing the podium in that order, it was an all-Kenyan affair.
The elite men’s title went to Ethiopia’s Birhame Legese who clocked 59:20. His compatriot Mosinet Geremew took the second spot while world record holder Tadese was third.
The leading pack of 10 runners was bunched together in the first half of the race and went through 10km in 27:56. With 500 metres to go, five runners were still in contention for the title, but it was Legese who stole the show with his blistering finishing kick.
As expected, the race for the top Indian woman boiled down to three runners — Lalita, OP Jaisha and Sudha Singh. All three have achieved the Rio qualification mark in their respective events and are training together in Ooty for the 2016 Olympics.
On the eve of the race, Babar had in fact talked about chalking out a strategy for Sunday. It proved to be productive as her nearest rival Jaisha failed to apply her sprinting prowess in the closing stages and had to settle for the second place at 1:11:43. Sudha was third at 1:11:46.
Army distance runner Nitendra Rawat took home the men’s trophy (Indian category) with a time of 1:04:41.