NEW DELHI, Oct 20: Long distance running great Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda won the men’s elite race at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday, his maiden international title over the 21.097km distance and also his first crown in a road race after retiring from the track.
The 28-year-old Cheptegei, who made his international debut in India at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2014 where he finished second, clocked an impressive 59 minute 46 seconds to win the race.
Kenyans Alex Matata (59:53) and Nicholas Kipkorir (59:59) were second and third respectively.
Alemaddis Eyayu of Ethiopia won the women’s half marathon elite race title, clocking 1 hour 8 minutes and 17 seconds. Cynthia Limo (1:08:27) of Kenya and Tiruye Mesfin (1:09:42) of Ethiopia were second and third respectively.
Sawan Barwal ran his personal best time of 1:02:46 to win the elite race among Indian men while and Lili Das (1:18:12) took the women’s title among domestic runners.
Puneet Yadav (1:03:55) and Kiran Matre (1:04:58) were second and third among Indian men while Kavita Yadav (1:19:44) and Priti Lamba (1:20:20) took the second and third places among domestic women runners.The three podium finishers in both men and women’s race take home USD 27,000, USD 20,000 and USD 13,000 respectively. Among the Indian competitors, the top three finishers in both men and women pocket Rs 4 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively.
Cheptegei realised his pre-race goal of winning with India yet again providing him the platform for a successful journey in road race after he decided to quit running on track after winning the 10,000m gold in the Paris Olympics. (PTI)
