Friday, 30 October 2009
Defending champions return, but Mergia will have Keitany to contend with - Delhi Half Marathon preview
Mary Keitany wins the IAAF/EDF Energy World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham (Getty Images)
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New Delhi, India - Delhi is cooler than normal for this time of the year. The stage looks ideal for distance running and expectedly there is talk of course records being bettered at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday (1 Nov).
The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
Of course, it is that time of the year when morning walkers find thousands lining up at Vinay Marg, in the diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri for the start of the annual race. The event has attracted a record 29,514 entries, well over the limit set by the organizers, this year, including 8695 in the Half Marathon section in all categories combined. The rest will participate in the Great Delhi Run, the wheelchair and seniors events.
Keitany v Mergia in strong women’s field
The defending champions, Deriba Merga and Aselefech Mergia, are back and both should fancy their chances better than anyone else in the field in gunning for the top prize of $25,000 each from the total prize purse of $210,000. The Ethiopians should be stretched, though, the women’s field especially looking more formidable than ever before with the presence of World Half Marathon champion Mary Jepkosgei Keitany.
“I will try my best, but Aselefech is a strong opponent to beat,” said Keitany on Thursday, with Mergia sitting beside her at a press-race press conference.
“I am very happy to be back here and I am looking forward to a good competition,” said Mergia.
Good competition it will be, with Kenyans Peninah Jerop Arusei, third-place finisher here last year and the runner-up in Milan in April this year, and Rose Kosgei, winner of the Prague Half Marathon this year, also in the fray.
Mergia has a good record in India. Apart from her victory last year, she also won the Bangalore 10k this year and, most significantly, she beat Keitany in that last event, 32:08 to 32:09.
Today, of course Keitany has a stature of her own having won the IAAF World Half Marathon title and being the fastest women in the world this year with a time top-ranked woman this season in the IAAF lists with a time of 1:06.36. On a comeback after giving birth to a boy in June last year, Keitany said she could have clocked better in Birmingham had the conditions been better and the challenge stiffer.
“She deserves a lot more for her timing in Birmingham, “said Ian Ladbrooke, Elite Athletes Co-ordinator, on Thursday. “If the weather here is kind, we can look forward to a course record.”
Mergia, silver medalist at last year’s World Half Marathon Championships, comes here with a PB of 1:07:48 clocked while finishing second in Ras Al Khaima last February. She was in the Paris Marathon in April with another PB of 2:25:02 and finished with the bronze in the IAAF World Championships Marathon in 2:25:32.
Other prominent athletes who could be expected to provide a good fight to Mergia and Keitany would be Ethiopians Aberu Kebede (PB 1:07:39), bronze winner in Birmingham, and Derba Alemu, winner here in 2007; Nelly Chepkirui of Kenya, winner in Chennai this season; Sally Barsosio, former World 10,000m champion from Kenya; and Ethiopians Teyiba Erkesso (PB 1:08:39 in winning in Houston in January this year) and Amane Gobena (PB 1:08:18).
Kipsang Merga’s key challenge
The men’s field may not look as formidable as it is in the women’s section, but Merga will not have things easy. He had taken off at a furious pace over the final 50 metres last year when Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich came surging through to threaten him. The Kenyan could manage only the second place then, though he had the satisfaction of having clocked a personal best of 59:16, lopping off more than a minute from his previous best.
The 27-year-old Kipsang has since bettered his PB with a 58:59 in Ras Al Khaimah last February, the third best timing this year. Being the highest listed athlete for the season in the field here there will naturally be a lot of attention on the Kenyan who finished fourth in Birmingham in 1:00:08.
Stephen Mokoko, 24, of South Africa, eighth (1:01:36) in Birmingham; Tilahun Regassa, 19, of Ethiopia, fourth here last year and 11th in Birmingham; and Bazu Worku of Ethiopia, winner of the Half marathon (1:01:56) in Paris and runner-up in the Paris Marathon this season in a World junior best of 2:06:15, should be among the front-runners.
One cannot discount Dieuodone Disi of Rwanda, the 2007 winner in Delhi. He had come sixth last time, but should be hoping to give a better performance if not provide an encore of his show two years ago.
The Indian section, in which there are over 7000 runners in the men’s sections and around 1000 in the women’s section, will be without the track regulars who are getting ready for the Asian Athletics Championships in Guangzhou from November 10. Missing will be the defending women’s champion, Kavita Raut.
“It’s still a young event. The number of entries coming in is indicative that things have changed for the event over the last five years. The race has attracted great athletes of international repute and the ‘Gold Label’ status given by the IAAF is a testimony that the race has become an established one,” said Hugh Jones, the Technical Director of the event.
Surely, the Delhi Half Marathon has become an important stop in the international calendar, and with the Commonwealth Games coming up here next year, it will once again provide the local organisers including the traffic police, an opportunity to fine tune their organizational skills.
Australian Cathy Freeman, the former Olympic champion in the 400m, and former Australian cricket captain Allan Border are the ‘brand ambassadors’ for the event that will be telecast live from 7 a.m IST on CNBC TV 18 and DD National on Sunday.
By An IAAF Correspondent
The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
Of course, it is that time of the year when morning walkers find thousands lining up at Vinay Marg, in the diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri for the start of the annual race. The event has attracted a record 29,514 entries, well over the limit set by the organizers, this year, including 8695 in the Half Marathon section in all categories combined. The rest will participate in the Great Delhi Run, the wheelchair and seniors events.
Keitany v Mergia in strong women’s field
The defending champions, Deriba Merga and Aselefech Mergia, are back and both should fancy their chances better than anyone else in the field in gunning for the top prize of $25,000 each from the total prize purse of $210,000. The Ethiopians should be stretched, though, the women’s field especially looking more formidable than ever before with the presence of World Half Marathon champion Mary Jepkosgei Keitany.
“I will try my best, but Aselefech is a strong opponent to beat,” said Keitany on Thursday, with Mergia sitting beside her at a press-race press conference.
“I am very happy to be back here and I am looking forward to a good competition,” said Mergia.
Good competition it will be, with Kenyans Peninah Jerop Arusei, third-place finisher here last year and the runner-up in Milan in April this year, and Rose Kosgei, winner of the Prague Half Marathon this year, also in the fray.
Mergia has a good record in India. Apart from her victory last year, she also won the Bangalore 10k this year and, most significantly, she beat Keitany in that last event, 32:08 to 32:09.
Today, of course Keitany has a stature of her own having won the IAAF World Half Marathon title and being the fastest women in the world this year with a time top-ranked woman this season in the IAAF lists with a time of 1:06.36. On a comeback after giving birth to a boy in June last year, Keitany said she could have clocked better in Birmingham had the conditions been better and the challenge stiffer.
“She deserves a lot more for her timing in Birmingham, “said Ian Ladbrooke, Elite Athletes Co-ordinator, on Thursday. “If the weather here is kind, we can look forward to a course record.”
Mergia, silver medalist at last year’s World Half Marathon Championships, comes here with a PB of 1:07:48 clocked while finishing second in Ras Al Khaima last February. She was in the Paris Marathon in April with another PB of 2:25:02 and finished with the bronze in the IAAF World Championships Marathon in 2:25:32.
Other prominent athletes who could be expected to provide a good fight to Mergia and Keitany would be Ethiopians Aberu Kebede (PB 1:07:39), bronze winner in Birmingham, and Derba Alemu, winner here in 2007; Nelly Chepkirui of Kenya, winner in Chennai this season; Sally Barsosio, former World 10,000m champion from Kenya; and Ethiopians Teyiba Erkesso (PB 1:08:39 in winning in Houston in January this year) and Amane Gobena (PB 1:08:18).
Kipsang Merga’s key challenge
The men’s field may not look as formidable as it is in the women’s section, but Merga will not have things easy. He had taken off at a furious pace over the final 50 metres last year when Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich came surging through to threaten him. The Kenyan could manage only the second place then, though he had the satisfaction of having clocked a personal best of 59:16, lopping off more than a minute from his previous best.
The 27-year-old Kipsang has since bettered his PB with a 58:59 in Ras Al Khaimah last February, the third best timing this year. Being the highest listed athlete for the season in the field here there will naturally be a lot of attention on the Kenyan who finished fourth in Birmingham in 1:00:08.
Stephen Mokoko, 24, of South Africa, eighth (1:01:36) in Birmingham; Tilahun Regassa, 19, of Ethiopia, fourth here last year and 11th in Birmingham; and Bazu Worku of Ethiopia, winner of the Half marathon (1:01:56) in Paris and runner-up in the Paris Marathon this season in a World junior best of 2:06:15, should be among the front-runners.
One cannot discount Dieuodone Disi of Rwanda, the 2007 winner in Delhi. He had come sixth last time, but should be hoping to give a better performance if not provide an encore of his show two years ago.
The Indian section, in which there are over 7000 runners in the men’s sections and around 1000 in the women’s section, will be without the track regulars who are getting ready for the Asian Athletics Championships in Guangzhou from November 10. Missing will be the defending women’s champion, Kavita Raut.
“It’s still a young event. The number of entries coming in is indicative that things have changed for the event over the last five years. The race has attracted great athletes of international repute and the ‘Gold Label’ status given by the IAAF is a testimony that the race has become an established one,” said Hugh Jones, the Technical Director of the event.
Surely, the Delhi Half Marathon has become an important stop in the international calendar, and with the Commonwealth Games coming up here next year, it will once again provide the local organisers including the traffic police, an opportunity to fine tune their organizational skills.
Australian Cathy Freeman, the former Olympic champion in the 400m, and former Australian cricket captain Allan Border are the ‘brand ambassadors’ for the event that will be telecast live from 7 a.m IST on CNBC TV 18 and DD National on Sunday.
By An IAAF Correspondent