MUMBAI: Goals, targets, records; all of it wilted away as the sun beat down strong on an unusually warm Sunday morning in Mumbai. The Mumbai Marathon, which feels more like a festival of running, acquires a keen edge every alternate year with qualification for multiple-sports events at stake. In 2016, the elite men had made history as the top three (Nitender Singh Rawat, T Gopi and Kheta Ram) all hit the qualifying mark; at the Rio Olympics India would have three competitors in the marathon for the first time since the 1960 Rome Games. Among them, Rawat had set a course record at 2:15.48 and Gopi had started as the pacer but finished the second fastest Indian man in the field.
This year, with the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games beckoning, Rawat and Gopi were back with renewed zeal. On the eve of the run, they had confidently sounded off a target of 2:13. But on race day, with the temperature crossing 20 degree Celsius after the first hour itself, the first Indian runner, Gopi, came in only after two hours and 16.51 seconds. Rawat, who has run shoulder to shoulder with his training buddy till the last 200 metres or so, trailed him only by 3 seconds.
Running his first marathon since injury hampered his Olympic debut at Rio, Rawat collapsed past the finish line, drained of energy and blisters on his feet.
“If it starts an hour earlier, it will be a better race,” said the 32-year-old of the 7:10 am start. “It was very hot and humid today. In the first one hour when it was relatively cool, all of us ran well.”
While both Rawat and Gopi’s time was good enough for them to secure qualification for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the Athletics Federation of India has decided to raise the bar high. They have, according to the AFI website, set the qualifying mark at 2:12:50. It is an unrealistic expectation, given that none of the current lot has been able to go below 2:15 and Shivnath Singh’s record of 2:12 set in 1978 has gone completely unchallenged.
“We have to remember that countries like Kenya will be in the Commonwealth Games,” said AFI president Adille Sumariwalla. “We will be given a quota for athletics for the Games and we are trying to make sure that we send the best medal prospects.”
The women seemingly suffered a lot more in the heat. As they arrived in the media room, a few of the podium-finishers decided to stretch out on a couple of chairs as they waited for their post-match press conferences. Apart from the rising temperature, the winner of the women’s race – Amane Gobena of Ethiopia-- was also bothered by amateur runners wandering off their race course.
A cramping Sudha Singh weaved her way through and struggled to finish line at 2:48.32. She led the Indian women’s field, in which 17 started but only 10 finished. Among the Indian men, nine out of 18 finished.
“I cramped thrice during the race,” said the 31-year-old, who led the Indian women. “It’s never happened before. I haven’t taken a single day off training, so it couldn’t be because of my lack of conditioning.”
The AFI has set a qualifying mark of 2:30.14 for the female marathoners. Though none of them have met the national body’s high standards yet, they will get another chance at next month’s Delhi marathon.
India’s marquee athletes weren’t helped by the fact that they were coming off training stints in cold weather and high altitude. While the men had trained in Bengaluru and Ooty, Singh had set up camp at the chilly Dharamshala. In Mumbai’s sapping heat, the wheels gradually came off.
deepti@newindianexpress.com
