Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on sunday – Kelai geared to record his third SCMM win; women looking for new course record

“It’s great to be back home” said John Kelai, two time winner of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon at the Elite Athletes media meet & greet session at the media centre on Thursday.

Besides Kelai, also present was Shami Mubarak from Qatar and women athletes Irene Mogaka and Rose Kosgei, both from Kenya, along with elite athlete coordinator Ian Ladbrooke.

Fresh from his Commonwealth marathon win in Delhi, John Kelai said, “the key difference between Mumbai and Delhi was that in Mumbai  virtually the whole city turns up to cheer the runners on.

In Delhi, due to security, the crowd was restricted to pockets every 10 km.” However, he also added that in Delhi it was his own spirit that drove him on and that motivating oneself is the true challenge. With such a small window between the Commonwealth Games and the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, Kelai says that he was back to training in a matter of weeks after his return from Delhi. Kelai's last visit to Mumbai in 2009 ended in disappointment as he missed out on a hat-trick of title.

This time, however, he is confident of wearing the winner's crown. He raced selectively in 2010, winning both the events he competed in, at Netherlands and at the Commonwealth Games and he is looking forward to kickstart 2011 with a win at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on Sunday.

The climate in Mumbai is something that has been a sore point, both literally as well as metaphorically, especially for those who aren’t acclimatized. Irene Mogaka, on the other hand, said that the climate here suited her and she was looking forward to a good run this Sunday.  Rose Kosgei echoed Irene’s sentiments, while acknowledging her recent injuries have played a spoilsport to her performance recently. She also added, “If the weather holds, it is possible that we can set a course record for women this week,” added Kosgei.

Having grown up in a village in Kenya, his former country, Qatari Shami Mubarak said that while he always enjoyed running as a child, he never thought he would make a career out of it. In a lighter vein, he also added, “My school was 7km away from my house so I had to run there and back every day. Sometimes I would run home for lunch.” He maintains a regimen of running at least 16 km a day, both in the morning and evening. He also quipped, “Winning a marathon is easy. It is the training that is difficult.”

All the athletes agreed that in marathon running, as in all sports, it is less about who your opponents for a particular race are, but more about giving your best and finishing at the top of your form. They also agreed that in Mumbai the last few kilometers, with all its ups and downs, including a flyover, were the toughest in the course.
 
Bruno Goveas