Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon – Mumbai geared up for marathon festival -By Ram. Murali Krishnan

Mumbai, India – 14 Jan 2011 – Every year the people of Mumbai join together for a celebration in mid-January as Mumbai Marathon becomes one of the festivals in India’s financial capital.  The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label race.

With cool weather climate prevail over most part of the country, course records are expected to go down on the Sunday (16) morning race, which is now running in its eighth year.   The number of elite athletes participating in the race is increasing this year, as also the prize money to USD 325,000.

A highly successful professional venture in Asia, the Mumbai marathon also served as platform to support charitable organizations raise funds for various causes.   That is the reason the event brings business tycoons, celebrity cine stars, sports persons and commoners together.    

Kelai, Bizunesh starts favourite

Fresh from his Commonwealth Games victory, Kenyan John Kelai look stronger to recapture his title in the men’s race.  Kelai was a back-to-back winner at Mumbai in 2007 and 2008.  He had a third place finish in the 2009 race when his compatriot Kenneth Mungara sets a course record 2:11:51.  Kelai spared the entire season last year working towards his race at Delhi and ran just one marathon prior to that at Enschede in April.

His winning time in Commonwealth Games (2:14:35) was not remarkable.  “It was not entirely my fault.  There were no spectators around and the entire course in Delhi was sealed off due to security concerns which left us (runners) to return poor timings” revealed Kelai in a press meet on Thursday afternoon.  “My preparation for Mumbai is good.  The field (this year) is strong and we are all expecting fast times” he further added.

There are at least a dozen men with timings around 2:10 or faster.  The list also included Sydney Olympic bronze medalist Tesfaye Tola of Ethiopia, fellow Kenyan Evans Ruttp and 2006 Asian Games champion Shami Mubarak Hassan from Qatar.  Unlike Tola, who had his best season a decade ago, bpth Rutto and Shami can give Kelai a run for his money.  However the absence of defending champion and Kelai’s country-mate Denis Ndiso bring some comfort to him as he himself put it “winning a marathon depends on the individual’s ability”.

In the women’s side, defending champion Bizunesh Urgesa is return to take her title.  The Ethiopian, a medalist in distance track races in both World Youth and World Junior championships in the past, set her foot on the road only two years ago and already tasted success through victories in Istanbul (2009) and Mumbai (2010).

Defending her title is not easy for Bizunesh as competition comes from her own teammates with last year’s runner-up Haille Kebebush and Merima Mohammed are emerging as tough opponents for Urgesa this time.  The women’s list includes about a dozen athletes with caliber to crack the milestone 2:30 mark here and determined to remove Mulu Seboka’s 2:30:03 clocked in 2008 from the record books.

As usual Indian athletes pinned there hope on the half-marathon.  Commonwealth and Asian Games distance running medalist Kavita Raut will be the top contender in the women’s race.

Ram. Murali Krishnan