When the Delhi Half Marathon kicks off on Sunday morning at 7.20 am, the focus will be on the African athletes and rightly so because they are a dominating for in the long distance running and the event at Delhi will be no different.
The elite field, which comprises four men and seven women athletes out of 2013’s world top-10, will be the centre of attraction for the entire world.
The inclusion of this year’s fastest man, Kenya’s Geoffrey Kipsang, who scorched the RAK Half Marathon track with a timing of 58.54 minutes to take the IAAF’s number one rank, and all time second fastest half marathon runner lucy Kabuu (66.09 minute) in the women’s field speaks of the sheer quality of the field. While Kabuu had also won the title here in 2011, her compatriot Kipsang had captured the second place the same year, losing out to Ethiopian lelisa Desisa.
Men’s competition will also be bolstered by the presence of defending champion Edwin Kipyego and last-year’s runners-up leonard langat, who was just 12 seconds slower than the winner.
In the women’s field, Ethiopian Wude Ayalaw will be the biggest challenger for Kabuu. Wude knows the Delhi course better than anyone else. Apart from the honour of defending champion, she has a runners-up finish in 2009 and third place in 2010.
Indian challenge
The Indians may find it difficult to catch up with the Africans but they will also look to win the Indian categorical competition. The Indian male elite field will have 53 competitors with the likes of defending champion Rahul Kumar Paul, 2011 winner Suresh Patel, Sandip Kumar, Vl Dangi, Kheta Ram and Rattiram Saini, aimimg to break the course record of 64 minutes set by Deep Sharan in 2009.
The women’s field will be led by steeplechase Olympian and defending champion Sudha Singh. Sudha will be chased hard by her training partner and 2007 and 2008 champion Kavita Raut. Their fellow Railways’ teammate and 2010 and 2011 champion lalita Babbar, though lost her title to Sudha last year, has the potentential to win the title again. The trio can’t ignore Preeja Sreedharan too.
Apart from the race, the event will also see large number of Delhites thronging the Jawahar lal Nehru stadium to compete in the Great Delhi Run. The race day will also see in action different personalities from India Inc. and Bollywood.