MUMBAI: Ethiopians Tadu Abate Deme and Yeshi Kalayu Chekole registered significant victories in the 21st edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race on Sunday.
It was the first career win in a major marathon for Yeshi Chekole, although she had been running this distance since 2019. The 28-year-old neatly executed what she revealed earlier during a pre-race media interaction, staying relaxed and finishing strong. About a dozen Ethiopian women started the race together. Important among them were last year's third-place finisher Medina Deme Armino and Shure Demise, the fastest entrant, with a PB of 2:20:59, clocked some eleven years ago in Dubai.
Armino wanted to triumph this time in the absence of the top two from last year -- Joyce Chepkemoi and Shitaye Eshete. Using her knowledge of the Mumbai roads from her previous sojourn, Armino was in command during the first half of the race. However, she faded away and started lagging behind the leader, Kidsan Alema, thereafter. Yeshi remained with Kidsan and two other compatriots. Gojjam Tesgaye and Birke Debele, when the runners covered three-fourths of the distance.
She broke away from the rest a couple of kilometres away and was running solo in the remaining part of the race. She went on to win the race, clocking 2:25:13, which was the fifth-fastest time among Mumbai winners to date. "I am very happy to be the Champion today. I came here expecting to break the course record, but I was a little shaky in the weather. However, I am very happy with the result. I felt strong and positive throughout, especially on both the uphill and downhill sections", Yeshi said after the race.
Kidsan shared that she was encouraged by the support from spectators all along the course. "In the middle of the race, my body started to feel a bit warm and I dropped slightly behind the leading group", she further added.
In the Men’s Elite Marathon, Kenyan Leonard Kiprotich Langat was locked in a keen battle with last year's runner-up Merhawi Kesete (Eritrea) and Tadu Abate (Ethiopia) right from the start. Uganda's 2023 World Marathon Champion Victor Kiplangat and Ethiopian Gada Gemsisa were hanging around them until the half-way stage.
Sanjivani and Kartik top Indian finishers
Sanjivani Jadhav's name has been associated with distance running in the country for well over a decade. However, excelling in a marathon on her debut at the distance gave her immense joy. She clocked 2:49:02 on her maiden attempt to finish overall tenth among the women runners and first among the Indian women.