The Hindu : Sport : Disi and Alemu pace out Kenyans

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Monday, Oct 29, 2007
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Sport

Disi and Alemu pace out Kenyans

Kirti Patil

Ram Singh finishes first among Indians

— Photo: Sadeep Saxena

STRONG SHOWING: Diudone Disi of Rwanda ran a tactical race to win the men’s title in the Delhi half-marathon.

NEW DELHI: Diudone Disi of Rwanda ran a smart race to outpace the overwhelming Kenyans to win the 2007 Vodafone Delhi half-marathon in a meet record time of 60.43 minutes here on Sunday.

Kenya’s Isaac Macharia finished second after setting the pace midway through the 21.097 km race, as the favourite, Wilson Kiprotich, ranked No. 3 in the world, struggled towards the end after having been in the leading bunch on the outward stretch.

Tanzania’s Dickson Marwa made it to the podium ahead of Kenyans Patrick Mbuvi and Kiprotich in 62.02 minutes. Marwa’s name though was missing from the initial results as his timing chip failed to provide signal at the finish line.

1-2 finish

Deriba Alemu led a 1-2 finish for Ethiopia in the women’s race as the otherwise dominating Kenyans found to their dismay that the world’s biggest prize in half-marathon slip away. Deriba won in 1 hour 10 minutes and 30 seconds, ahead of Atsede Habtamu. Race favourite Alive Timbilil of Kenya was third at 1:10.40.

“I thought I could run the course in 59 minutes after the 15km mark, but then I started looking at fellow runners and lost time,” said Disi.

Having finished sixth at the World half marathon championships in Udine, Italy, two weeks ago, Disi was the dark horse from the start. The leading pack comprised Philip Rugut, the winner here in 2005, Matthew Koech, Kiprotich, Marwa and Disi.

Around the 15km mark, Macharia and Disi were running sub-60 minute timing, but then they started looking at each other and lost time in the process. But Macharia’s efforts to pull away proved futile as Disi was relaxed while keeping up the pace.

On the final stretch, Disi broke out and virtually sprinted the final 200 metres to breast the tape. “I kept behind in the early stages of the race, but came over the leading pack on the home stretch,” said Macharia.Disi received a glittering trophy and $20,000. Macharia had to settle with $12,000 and a silver medal and Marwa got $8000 and a bronze medal.

Ram Singh Yadav was the first among the Indians and earned $2500 for his effort. Overall. Yadav finished 17th with a timing of 66.09 minutes ahead of Deep Chand and Mukesh Kumar.

Straight race

Unlike in the men’s race, there was very little drama in the women’s run. Alice Timbilil, ranked No. 5 in the world, led for the most part with Ethiopians, Deriba and Atsede in tow. It was a straight race from the start and Deriba had enough reserve energy at the end to sprint ahead at the finishing line.

“I ran aggressively till the 10 km mark and held out till the next five kilometres, but I could not come strong at the finishing,” said Alice.

Among the Indians, Kavita Raut finished 15th with 1 hour 18.34 minutes ahead of Preethi Rao (19th) and Vaishali Chatare (20th).

The results:

Men: 1. Diudone Disi (Rwa) 1:00.43s, 2. Isaac Macharia (Ken) 1:00.48, 3. Dickson Marwa (Tan), 1:02.02. 17. Ram Singh Yadav (Ind) 1:06.09, 18. Deep Chand (Ind) 1:06.10, 19. Mukesh Kumar (Ind) 1:06.12.

Women: 1. Deriba Alemu (Eth) 1:10.30, 2. Atsede Habtamu (Eth) 1:10.36, 3. Alice Timbilil (Ken) 1:10.40. 15. Kavita Raut (Ind) 1:18.34. 19. Preethi Rao (Ind) 1:20.38, 20. Vaishali Chatare (Ind) 1:21.58.

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