Among the 34,000 runners in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, Guye Adola and world record holder Florence Kiplagat will back themselves to defend their title in the 21km race here on Sunday.
Kenya’s Kiplagat, who holds the world record with a time of 1:05:09, won her second title in a row here with a 1:10:04 effort.
In the Indian contingent, defending men’s champion Suresh Kumar and women’s national record holder O P Jaisha will lead the charge.
Some established names such as lalita Babar and Sudha Singh will also be taking part in elite women’s category. While, in men Nitendra Singh Rawat, Gopit and Mhd Yunus will also be vying to bag the `3 lakh.
Meanwhile, the winners in the men’s and women’s elite category will receive $27,000 respectively. There will be a total of over 25 elite athletes in attendance this time, with the Ethiopians ruling the roost.
Touted as one of the fastest half marathon courses, the elite line-up this year is one of the best ADHM has seen in all its eight years.
Adola topped the men’s field last year with a course record of 59.06 but he will have to run his best for a double in the presence of world record holder Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea.
Besides Adola, the other top Ethiopians are Mosinet Geremew and 2013 champion Atsedu Tsegay. Geremew clocked 59:11 at the previous run in the city, which was his personal best. Jonathan Maiyo (Kenya) who came in 8th last year is another to look for.
If his performance this year in the Mattoni Olomouc and RAK Half Marathons are anything to go by, Maiyois is in it to win it at ADHM 2015.
Atsedu Tsegay (Ethiopia) who won the 2013 edition of ADHM, will be back in the capital this year and is vying to reclaim his title.
New to ADHM this year are — TCS World 10K champ Alex Korio (Kenya), who clocked the fourth fastest time this year, will try his hand at the title, having achieved his best (59:28) at the recently concluded Copenhagen Marathon.
Tsegaye Kebede known to be one of the most consistent runners in the international circuit will be running his first Indian marathon this November, and has nine medals to his credit from some of the world’s largest marathons.
Edwin Kiptoo (Kenya) is no stranger to Indian running, having participated in both SCMM 2015 as a pacer and TCS World 10K 2015 where he placed third, he is looking to make his mark at ADHM as well.
It will be tougher to stop Kiplagat in the women’s field. She bettered her world record time in February when she completed the Barcelona Half Marathon in 1:05:09. Giving her competition will be fellow Kenyan Cynthia limo, who has won podium places in 10 out the 11 races she has run this year.
Cynthia limo (Kenya), well-known in the US running circle, won podium places at 10 out the 11 races she has run this year, and will give Kiplagat a fight for the title.
Reigning Olympic marathon champion Tiki Gelana (ETH), who most recently took home the bronze at the Tokyo Marathon, will be gunning for gold at ADHM.
Helah Kiprop (Kenya) is a familiar name in the Indian running scenario, having won the TCS World 10K and Cochin Half Marathon, armed with silver at the 2015 World Championships Marathon.
The 11th edition of the race, to be flagged off from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, is also seen as a celebration of running in the city. According to organisers, around 34,000 will be part of the running extravagansa.
The Half Marathon has received 13,200 entries, the Corporate Champions 200 teams (600 runners), while the Great Delhi Run has 19,000 entries, Senior Citizens’ Run has 800 participants, and the Champions with Disability event will have 400.