Kenya's Daniel Ebenyo and Ethiopian Almaz Ayana lived up to the expectations as they won the men's and women's elite races respectively at the Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Ebenyo, who won a silver medal in the 10000m race at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, finished the men's race in 59 minutes and 27 seconds, ahead of fellow Kenyan Charles Matata (1:00:05) and Ethiopia's Addisu Gobena (1:00:51).
Ayana, who won a 10000m gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, topped the women's elite race in one hour, seven minutes and 59 seconds, ahead of Uganda's Stella Chesang (1:08:28) and Kenya's Viola Chepngeno (1:09:09).
Abhishek Pal and Kavita Yadav were the fastest in the Indian men's and women's elite categories, clocking 1:04:08 and 1:17:42 respectively.
The 31-year-old Ayana, winner of the Delhi Half Marathon six years ago, came close to her 2017 winning time of 1:07:11 in the women's race.
Running in company of her country-mates Aberash Minsewo and Dessie Anchinalu as well as Kenya's Viola Chepngeno and Uganda's Stella Chesang, Ayana maintained her 16-minute pace for each of the 5km intervals.
But she slowed down in the final phase of the race and ran alone as her nearest challenger Chesang was way behind her. Ayana went on to claim the top spot in 67:58 seconds.
Chesang finished 28 seconds later for the second place while Chepngeno from Kenya completed the podium in 69:09. For Chesang, it was one place up from her last year's position in Delhi.
"It was not an easy race and the weather was a bit hot as well. However, it was great to run at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon. I would like to thank the organisers for inviting me to the event and this race has helped me prepare for the events in future," said Ayana.
In the men's elite race, a group of eight runners, mostly Kenyans, stayed together until the 13-km mark when Ebenyo and his compatriot Charles Matata started breaking away from the rest.
Matata, the runner-up in this year's Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon in Madrid, was pushing Ebenyo for another five kilometres. However, Ebenyo, the silver medallist in the World Half Marathon earlier this year, increased his pace at the right time to move at least half a minute ahead of Matata.
While Ebenyo romped home in 59 minutes 27 seconds, Matata clocked 60:05 for the second spot while Addisu Gobena brought some cheer to the Ethiopian camp, crossing the finish line 46 seconds later for the third place.
"It was amazing to run here, but I am disappointed with my timing. I was aiming for the event record but fell short. Hopefully, I will be able to break the event record next year," said Ebenyo.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Pal reclaimed the Indian elite men's title after running neck and neck with Hangzhou Asian Games 10,000m silver medallist Kartik Kumar.
Pal recorded a timing of 64:07, while Kartik missed the top prize by a fraction of a second and finished with 64:08. Sawan Barwal was third with a timing of 64:17.
Pal was the 2018 winner with 64:13 and he bettered his timing in this edition.
"Kartik and I have had a lot of close contests and today we had another one. It's great to clinch first place once again. Kartik and I train together and I am really happy about his achievement at the Asian Games. We'll definitely have another photo finish at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon next year," Pal said.
Kavita Yadav clinched the first position in the Indian elite women's race in her Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon debut with a timing of 77:42, while Rima Patel (77:48) and Poonam Dinkar Sonune (77:49) finished second and third respectively.
"The race got very close towards the end and I had to push hard in the last 400m to ensure that I finished first. It was a great experience to run in Delhi and I will certainly come back to defend my title," Kavita said.
