Pace-setters led the way at the 13th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2016. Armyman Gopi T’s task was to set the pace till the 30 km mark for training mates Nitendra Singh Rawat and Kheta Ram from the Army Sports Institute, Pune. He completed the men’s marathon in second place, pulling Rawat (first among Indians) and Ram (third) under the Olympic qualification mark for the Rio Games 2016.
The world athletics body, IAAF, announced 2:17:00 as the qualification criteria for distance runners.
Gopi emerged a surprise second (2:16:15), between India topper Rawat (2:15:48), whose time was 10th overall among elite men, and Ram (2:17:23) close behind in third. Rawat became the second Indian (after Ram Singh Yadav in 2008) to finish among the first 10 in the full marathon. The first two did coach Surender Singh Bhandari proud by going under the Olympic qualification time, following the bunch of Africans loping ahead.
Course recordKenyan Gideon Kipketer won the men’s event in a course record time of 2:08:35 (bettering the 2:09:32 by Jackson Kiprop in 2013). He was also listed as pace-setter in the official entries, picking up speed till the 30 km mark as instructed, but had burnt out the others by then, striding alone from the 33 km point and steaming home in the fastest time clocked in 13 years at the IAAF Gold Label event.
Kipketer’s pace in the first half hurt the others in a pack of 18 runners; Seboka Dibaba recovered his energy to stagger in at second place among elite runners, clocking 2:09:20 to also better Kiprop’s winning time two years ago at this course. The Kenyan and Ethiopian Dibaba will share the $15,000 bonus for bettering the course record.
All winners will be paid the prize money in dollars, and the Indians in rupees.
Women’s marathoner Shuko Genemo arrived for the SCMM with her own pace-setter, named as Guta Fayissa in the official entry list. Both are Ethiopians based in Addis Ababa; the latter is also her training partner. The former paced herself so well that the rivals were way behind when the champion turned for the finish. She hit the tape at 2:27:50, ahead of Bornes Kitur (2:32:00) and Valentine Kipketer, elder sister of men’s winner Gideon, in third place (2:34:07). The pace-setter did not find a place on the podium, but had done the job.
Women display enduranceThe full marathon (men and women) has a separate prize money category for Indians to show their mettle against Africans with reputation. Sudha Singh, a steeplechaser with podium finishes at the Asian level, showed more endurance than the elite runners to earn an overall seventh place in the women’s marathon (2:39:28). Lalita Babar, whose pet event is the steeplechase, came in 10th overall and second among Indians (2:41:55). OP Jaisha was third (2:43:26). All three are employed with Railways and took part in the National Cross Country Championships in Bengal recently.
Sudha and Babar’s timing is below the IAAF-stipulated Olympic qualification timing for women marathoners (2:42:00). Jaisha, with a personal best of 2:34:43 timed at the Beijing World Athletics Championships last year, is already assured of a marathon place, if she wants to compete. Babar is clear about focusing on the 3000m women’s steeplechase and used the marathon to build endurance. The Indian women’s topper has a personal best 2:35:35 in the marathon, clocked at the 2015 World Championships.
Sudha earned $4500 for overall seventh, while Babar and Rawat earned $1500. The latter also picked up a Rs. 50,000 bonus for the Indian course record. Men’s champion Gideon Kipketer and women’s winner Shuko Genemo are not sure if the SCMM timing will earn either of them a place in the Rio Games marathon event for Kenya and Ethiopia respectively. Both earned $41,000 each for finishing first; Kipketer will share $15,000 with men’s second place finisher Seboka.
