A strong field to line-up for Airtel Delhi Half Marathon; course record under threat
With this year’s Airtel Delhi Half Marathon kicking off tomorrow, a strong field is expected to embark on the course record.
Athletics, particularly running events, are new to the sub-continent. However, the interest of the common people in the sport is huge. Perhaps that is the reason that each running event in India attracts greater crowds as compared to the previous ones.
This year as well, while keeping in view the people’s interest for the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, the organizers have decided to give it a boost. They have planned to summon the top 40 long distance runners in the world.
Looking forward to equate their foreign competitors, Indian runners, who will be encouraged to perform well given the incentive of individual cash prizes, will also aim for clocking fast finishes.
Thus, the expectations from tomorrow’s showdown are huge and the course record is also under threat.
Given the ever increasing interest of the Indians for athletics, the race is being organized on a holiday. Attended by top performers of the world, it will definitely be observed by a huge audience.
The running event for tomorrow has been divided into four parts and it will begin with the 21.097km Half Marathon race.
The following events will comprise of 2.5 km wheelchair race, a 4.3km contest for the senior citizens and finally a 6 km long Great Delhi Run.
Among others, Deriba Merga and Aselefech Mergia, the Ethiopian runners who happen to be two-time winners, are being regarded as the favourites for the run for the men’s and women’s contests, respectively.
Besides his world class performance on the Indian tracks, Merga, the 4th fastest runner over the distance of half marathons, happens to be the winner of race’s 2008 and 2009 editions.
By clocking a finishing time of 59 minutes and 15 seconds, he also happens to be the course record holder of the event.
His performance at Delhi is expected to be impressive, given the fact that he is returning from Ras Al-Khaima Half Marathon where he observed a praise-worthy finish of 59 minutes and 25 seconds.
On women’s side, Aselefech will look forward to grapple the title against some of the cherished runners like Merima Mohammed, Aberu Kebede and Lucy Wangui Kabuu, besides the Indian runners: Lalita Babbar, Priyanka Patel and Sudha Singh.
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