On a day when all the three podium finishers in the elite women's section were from Kenya, Indian runners stole the show by finishing in the top ten positions as well as breaking the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon course record.
Ethiopia's Birhanu legese (0:59:20) and Kenya's Cynthia limo (01:08:35) came out on top in the elite men's and women's events respectively after thrilling battles over the last kilometer of the race.
In the Indian women's department lalita Babbar not just emerged as a shock Indian winner (8th overall) but also clocked the fastest ever half marathon time by an Indian woman 1:10:52 seconds.
OP Jaisha finished just behind her in the ninth position with 1:11:34, followed by Sudha Singh with 1:11:46. All three women broke the course record set by Kavita Raut (01:17:12) in 2008.
Nitendra Singh Rawat was the fastest Indian in elite men's section with 1:04:41. Gopi T was second with 1:04:45 and he was followed by Mohd Yunus with 1:04:46.
The three Indian men were hot on each others’s heels, before Rawat emerged successful. Their finishing time showed how tight the contest was with just five seconds separating the trio.
But the real drama was in the Indian women's department. Before the race, Babbar vowed to finish the marathon within one hour, 10 or 11 minutes and she did just that by reaching the mark.
"I promised my coach that I will finish within an hour and 10 or 11 minutes and I am happy to keep that word," said the jubilant 26-year-old.
lalita, Jaisha and Sudha were neck and neck from the get go on Sunday. There was hardly anything to separate between them.
When the race was at the 10km mark, all three of them were coincidentally on 34 minutes, 29 seconds. But after the 14 km mark, Babbar started to set the pace and create a gap between the other two competitors.
As they approached the 17 km mark, Jaisha and Sudha were on 57:44 and 57:45 respectively, but Babbar was way ahead with 57:25. She successfully maintained that lead till the end without a blip.
"After 14 km, I knew I was taking a good lead and I was happy to maintain it till the end," she added.
Jaisha, who was tipped to be the favourite for this year's half marathon, added that she was in with a shout till the 14km mark.
"I gave my best shot, but after the 13 or 14 km, I was left behind," explained the 32-year-old.
Also there wasn't much to separate between the Indian runners and their foreign counterparts as lalita was only two minutes short of Cynthia's 1:08:35.
long distance coach Nikolai Snesarev was pleased with the way the half marathon turned out.
"Only 11 months ago in the Kochi marathon, Jaisha and Sudha clocked in the region of one hour and 15 minutes, while lalita managed one hour and 17 minutes," he said.
"So to see them all improve on four to five minutes in such a period of time is really impressive."
lalita had kind words for the coach by saying his training methods suited them all. "The coach's training helped all the three of us a lot. Also his training methods suited us," she explained.
Shoe plays spoilsport on Tadese's chances
In the international athletes, the leading pack of 10 runners went through 10km mark in 27:56, thereby five men were still in contention with just 500 metres to go ahead of the finish line at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
However, Ethiopia's Mosinet Geremew was unable to hold on to the lead as legese overtook his compatriot with barely 100 metres remaining and crossed the line with a personal best of 59:20, with Geremew one second in arrears.
"I am very happy, I enjoyed the course and enjoyed the race," reflected legese, after clinching the $27,000 winner's cheque.
His time equalled the third-fastest time in the world this year.
Just 21, legese notched up his second major half marathon victory this year, having also won the Berlin Half Marathon back in March where he set his previous best of 59:45. In Delhi, he was just 14 seconds outside the course record set in 2014 by another Ethiopian Guye Adola.
"It is my first time in Delhi and I have come up with a personal best. It is even more satisfying considering the top six was so close," legese said referring to the fact that top six finished the race under one hour.
However the real drama was about Zersenay Tadese losing his shoe during the race, which forced him to cut the group. Despite it he still managed to finish third with 59:24.
"I am happy to have finished the race that way I have, after stopping at the 8km mark. It was unfortunate, somebody caught me, so I had to cut from the group to fix it," said Tadese.
If not for the incident the final outcome of the race could have been different as Tadese finished only four seconds behind the eventual winner legese.
Meanwhile, women's event winner limo was happy with the progress she made compared to last year.
"I finished fourth last time so I can't asking for anything more. I will be back next year to defend the title," added a delighted limo.
Helah Kiprop finished second with 1:08:35 and her compatriot Glady's Chesir was a second slower to make it all three for Kenya in the podium.
A total of 34,015 runners participated in the 8th ADHM. It also includes 13,200 amateurs and over 70 international athletes.
Also, 19,015 enthusiasts participated in the Great Delhi Run while 400 brave hearts took part in the champions with disability category and 800 in the senior citizen category.
Besides, filmmaker Prakash Jha and actress Bipasha Basu added the celebrity touch by lending their support to the half marathon participants here on Sunday.