Kenyan Daniel Ebenyo often gets to train with compatriot and marathon great Eliud Kipchoge. While Ebenyo considers the two-time reigning Olympic champion as an inspirational figure for Kenyan distance runners, he doesn’t look up to Kipchoge as an idol. “I look up to myself,” the 28-year-old said, grinning.
He doesn’t need to, especially considering the red-hot form Ebenyo has been in of late, not finishing farther than second place in all track and road events he has taken part this year. That includes 10,000m silver at the Budapest World Championships in August.
On Sunday morning, Ebenyo continued that run as he conquered the streets of the national capital to win the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon in his first appearance in the event.
Ebenyo remained with the pack for till the halfway mark before starting to pull away. Thereafter, nobody could match his pace, especially at the end as the 28-year-old completed the race in 59 minutes, 27 seconds, 38 seconds ahead of second-placed compatriot Charles Matata (1:00.05).
Despite his comprehensive win, Ebenyo was unhappy he didn’t break the course record. “I never relaxed during the race. It was an amazing win, but I wanted to break the course record (58:53 by Ethiopia’s Amdework Walelegn in 2020).
“The pacemakers were not fast enough. They were especially slow in the first 5km, otherwise I could have given the record a shot. They stabilised later on. But watch out for me. I promise I will return to break the course record,” said Ebenyo, whose personal best is 59:04 he ran in Bahrain last year.
The conditions were tough due to the October heat and humidity despite the skies being overcast for most of the race held in the morning. Ethiopia’s Addisu Gobena came third at 1:00.51 while his compatriot Chala Regasa, last year’s winner, dropped out after 12km.
The women’s race was won by Rio Olympics champion in 10,000m, Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia. She won in 1:07.58, a full half-a-minute ahead of Uganda’s Stella Chesang.
Ayana, who won the race six years back, stayed with the pack for the first 5km before beginning to pull away. At the 15km mark, Ayana, who has two World Championships titles – in 5,000m and 10,000m – had established a 23-second lead. Kenya’s Viola Chepngeno came third in 1:09:09.
Ayana, who also won a 5,000m bronze at Rio 2016, had been out of the circuit for almost five years as she underwent surgery on both knees. The comeback was further pushed back after childbirth. She finally made a comeback at the 2022 Amsterdam Marathon where the 31-year-old made the fastest ever women’s marathon debut to win the race.
Abhishek, Kavita Indian winners
Abhishek Pal reclaimed the Indian elite men’s title after a photo finish with Hangzhou Asian Games 10,000m silver medallist Kartik Kumar. Kartik was leading 1 km from the finish, but Abhishek finished e in 1:04.07, one hundredth of a second faster than Kartik. He won the top prize for the second time in four outings in Delhi (first was in 2018).
For Kartik, the finish was reminiscent of last year when Avinash Sable edged him out in a photo finish. Sawan Barwal finished third in 1:04.17.
“Kartik and I have had a lot of close contests. Today was another one. It’s great to come first in the category again. Kartik and I train together and I am really happy about his achievement at the Asian Games. We’ll definitely have another photo finish here next year,” said Abhishek.
Kavita Yadav won the elite Indian women’s race, clocking 1:17.42 to finish ahead of Rima Patel (1:17.48) and Poonam Dinkar Sonune (1:17.49). “I am very happy to have won on my debut here. The race got very close towards the end. I had to push hard in the last 400m to ensure I finished first,” said Kavita, who hails from Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh.
