Lelisa Desisa dominates the field at Airtel Delhi Half Marathon – Athletics news
Ethiopian runner, Lelisa Desisa secured victory at the seventh edition of Airtel Delhi Half Marathon - IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in a well-brought-up time of 59 minutes and 30 seconds, in Delhi, India, on November 27.
Last year’s runner-up, Desisa and Kenyan runner, Sammy Kitwara remained together in the initial stages of the race. Milton Rotich, as the pacemaker, led the runners through the first half of the course.
The front runners reached the Jaipur House on Dr. Zakir Hussain Marg and from there, with the group of twenty runners shortened to fifteen, as Rotich allowed others to take over the lead. Approaching into the iconic India Gate and running towards the Rashtrapathi
Bhavan presidential palace on the Raj Path, the group began to dissipate from there.
A group of six remained together in contention, as Philemon Limo along with Dino Sefir took charge as the leaders. The group went past the 10km mark in just over 28 minutes on Sansad Marg, the road to Indian Parliament.
As the athletes returned towards the India Gate, Limo and Sefir gradually decreased pace. Kitwara remained composed among the front running group. With just three kilometres to the finish, Kitwara was seen losing control of the pace.
At the 20km mark, Kitwara was left behind with a reasonable gap. Witnessing the right moment, Desisa and Geoffrey Kipsang took advantage of the situation and started running shoulder-to-shoulder. Mike Kigen, among the front running group, had a 13 second difference
behind the duo, while Kitwara was considerably near.
Desisa and Kipsang commenced to sprint, as they were approaching a straight 100 metres stretch towards the finish at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. In an intense battle for the top spot, Desisa overpowered Kipsang to clear the line first, in a finishing time of
59 minutes and 30 seconds.
Desisa not only claimed victory, but he also embossed his personal best score in the event. Desisa became the second Ethiopian athlete, to capture the Men’s title in Delhi after his country-mate, Deriba Merga, who won the meet in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
The second spot was taken by Geoffrey Kipsang, who cleared the distance in a time of 59 minutes and 31 seconds. He was followed by Mike Kigen, who sheltered the third place with a time of 59 minutes and 58 seconds.
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