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News15 May 2005


Local outclasses Ethiopians to win Bangalore Marathon

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India’s Kennedy Chinna Ramu took full advantage of his hometown as he outclassed the thin field of three unknown Ethiopian runners in the 1st edition of Lipton Bangalore International Marathon, in Bangalore, India, this morning with a modest time of 2:23:46.

However, Ethiopian visitors made a clean sweep in the women’s race taking away the top three positions. Marshet Gema posted 2:45:34 for the win.

The winners of the full marathon were awarded with INR 132,000 (approx. USD 3,000) in both men and women categories.  However, Ramu got an additional purse of INR 15,000 for being the fastest Indian.  As much as INR 991,000 was distributed as prize money.  

Almost all top finishers blamed the humid weather conditions for returning poor timings today. 

The event lived up to its title as ‘international’ when runners from over 30 nations took part in the Half Marathon and celebration run as the city houses a large number of multinational companies.  For example, Netherlander Joost Toonen, an employee with Philips was here on training and took part in the celebrity run.  “It’s great and fun”, he declared after the finish. 

A large number of yesteryear’s sports persons took part in the celebrity run which included cricketer Syed Kirmani, All-England badminton champion Prakash Padukone, athletes Ashwini Nachappa, Shiny Wilson, Arjun Deviah, Uday Prabhu, footballer Brindha to name a few.

Ram. Murali Krishnan for the IAAF

Results:

Full Marathon (Mixed):

Men:
1.  Kennedy Chinna Ramu (ASI, Pune) 2:23:46; 2. Abebe Seume Acyam (Ethiopia) 2:28:37; 3. Tsegayae Desalegan (Ethiopia) 2:33:10.

Women:
1. Marshet Gema (Ethiopia) 2:45:34; 2. Adenech Beyene Jemilu (Ethiopia) 2:47:04; 3. Kore Alemu (Ethiopia) 3:03:47.

Half-Marathon (Mixed):

Men:
1. Shah Navas (MEG) 1:07:45; 2. Ram Singh Yadav (Hyderabad) 1:08:59; 3. S.B. Singh (ASC, Bangalore) 1:10:05.

Women:
1. Bhagvathi (Delhi) 1:26:24; 2. Chandraprabha Varma (UP) 1:31:17; 3. Neha Agarwal (UP) 1:32:57.

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