The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon - IAAF Gold Label Road Race: Athletics preview
The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon - IAAF Gold Label Road Race will kick off on November 27, in Delhi, India. With its first meeting in 2005, the event is both an elite runner and mass participation event. The course is largely flat and has delivered fast winning
times in its short history, with men producing a number of sub-one hour times and women recording times under 1 hour and 8 minutes.
Last year’s defending champion, Ethiopian athlete, Deriba Merga fell short to Kenyan athlete, as Geoffrey Mutai took the top spot and finished the distance in a time of 59 minutes and 38 seconds, in 2010. The defending champion in Men’s category, Geoffrey
Mutai, has not yet confirmed his participation in the contest.
Deriba Merga initially confirmed his participation, but withdrew a couple of days ago and thus, pulled out from the race. With the induction of Sammy Kitwara in the event, race organisers were more than enchanted. Kitwara holds a bronze medal winning performance
at the 2010 World Half Marathon championships. His career best time is recorded at 58 minutes and 48 seconds, set in Philadelphia earlier this year, where he finished second.
To heat up the competition, two other runners, Philemon Limo of Kenya and Dino Sefer of Ethiopia, will also compete in the event. Both athletes hold sub-60 course times. Limo won in Prague, as he registered a score of 59 minutes and 30 seconds, while Sefer
has a finishing of 59 minutes and 42 seconds, in Vitry-sur-Seine, near Paris.
Another Kenyan runner, Geoffrey Kipsang, winner of junior men’s World Cross Country title earlier this year, is making his Delhi debut. Kipsang holds a decent winning time of 1 hour and 2 seconds, which he set at Lille, in 2011. He is the youngest athlete
to enter in the Men’s contest.
The Men’s category also includes some regular competitors on the Delhi course. Dickson Marwa of Tanzaina, third spot winner in 2007, is sure to make a return. Ethiopian athlete, Tilahun Regassa, fourth position winner in 2008 and 2009, will kick off with
his third appearance in the event. Regassa’s team-mate, Tadesse Tola is sure to make a come-back after two years. Ethiopian athlete, Shumi Dechasa will also join other athletes for the event.
The Women’s category will have two-time victor and defending champion, Aselefech Mergia in the contest. It will be her fifth appearance at the event. She scored victories at Delhi, in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Mergia finished ninth in 2009 at the event,
while Mary Keitany topped with her course record time of 1 hour, 6 minutes and 54 seconds. Mergia then grabbed victory in 2010.
However, a top finisher at the Dubai Marathon in January, Mergia was a non-finisher at the World Championships, in August. Nonetheless, she made a good comeback at the Bupa 10 miles race in Portsmouth at the end of October, where she embossed a winning personal
best of 52 minutes and 55 seconds. Lucy Kabuu Wangui, the Kenyan who won a gold medal in 10,000m distance at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, is looking tall among the other women on the elite list.
The field holds a number of great competitors in the discipline, which ensures a heated competition at the event. All eyes will be set at the top spot and with focused competitors in the meet, it will not be an easy task for runners to clinch the leading
position at the event.
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