Kenyan long-distance runners Alex Matata and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk stamped their authority on the capital’s streets, storming to victory in the men’s and women’s elite races respectively at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday.
It was only the second time in the event’s history that Kenyan runners won both the men’s and women’s titles in the same edition. Francis Kibiwott and Lineth Chepkurui were the first ones to achieve the unique distinction in 2006.
Matata, who finished runner-up here last year, ran a perfectly-timed race to cross the line in 59:50 seconds, while Rengeruk triumphed in the women’s field with a time of 1:07:20 seconds braving the warm and humid conditions. Both winners pocketed USD 27,000 each for their efforts.
They were greeted at the finish line by event ambassador and legendary nine-time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis.
Over 40,000 runners took to the streets of Delhi, participating across multiple categories including the Half Marathon, Open 10K, Champions with Disability Run, Senior Citizens’ Run, and the Great Delhi Run.
It was a dominant display from Matata, who led for the most part of the race. He left behind Ethiopia’s Boyelign Teshager (1:00:22 seconds) and compatriot James Kipkogei (1:00:25 seconds) to seal a memorable victory.
The 28-year-old Matata broke away from other runners early to run a solo race. Having won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in UAE earlier this year with a personal best of 59:20:00, the Kenyan already had seven sub-60 minutes timings to his credit, including 59:53 from the VDHM in 2024.
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However, there was no one to push him for the course record of 58:53:00 (set by Ethiopia’s Amedework Walelegnas in 2020) as the rest of the men’s field was more than 60 metres behind him during the second half of the race.
“This one is for my brother back home who is unwell and could not accompany me here,” said Matata.
“The celebration… I do it for myself and my brother. I feel my brother was representing me here. He was unwell, so I though ‘let me push myself to my level best and see what I can achieve’,” he added.
“It was a nice experience, I knew the course well. This time, it’s quite nice because there was not much humidity like last year.” In contrast, the women’s race went down to the wire. Multiple world cross-country medallist and pre-race favourite Rengeruk surged ahead in the final stretch to edge out Ethiopia’s Melal Siyoum Biratu (1:07:21 seconds), who was competing in her first race outside her country. Ethiopian Mulat Tekle finished third with a timing of 1:07:29 seconds.
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Rengeruk, the reigning Prague Half Marathon champion, had previously clinched the Bengaluru World 10K crown in India last year.
Rengeruk kept running for a major part with a pack of half a dozen runners, including Tekle and Biratu. The trio covered the 10K mark in 32:10:00 seconds, slightly ahead of the others, but Kenya’s 2023 World Half-Marathon bronze medallist Catherine Amangole increased her pace to join them briefly.
They ran past the 15K mark together in 48:11:00. However, she could not sustain her tempo thereafter and fell back as the runners approached the finish line.
Young Melal was looking at the finish line with excitement, thinking that she would take the title on her debut at this distance. However, Rengeruk, with multiple international exposures, sprinted to wrest the top spot, just a second ahead of the Ethiopian.
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Last year’s winner, Alemaddis Eyayu, finished seventh in 1:10:51 seconds.
“The race was tough and everyone was strong. I just told myself to do my best because I had the strength to finish. I’m happy with my time today, especially since I’ve just come back from an injury. This was my third race of the year, and my strategy was to stay patient, take the lead, and fight till the finish,” Rengeruk said.
Abhishek, Seema top Indian elite category
Abhishek Pal and Seema were the fastest Indian finishers, clocking 1:04:17 and 1:11:23 seconds respectively as the country’s top middle- and long-distance athlete Gulveer Singh pulled out due to a back injury he sustained on Thursday.
The duel between Gulveer, the double Asian Championships gold medallist in 5000m and 10000m, and Pal was expected to be the highlight of the ‘Indian elite’ category but in the end it turned out to be a one-man show.
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Pal came close to breaking his personal best of 1:04:07, set in Delhi in 2023, but fell agonisingly short though he collected his third VDHM title since 2018.
Pal and Kiran Matre (1:04:57) were neck and neck for most of the race, with the pair clocking 33:16 at the 10k split. They picked up the pace soon after to cross 15km in 43:58. In the final stretch, the experienced Pal pulled away to secure the victory with ease. Karthik Karkera (1:05.16) clinched the bronze.
Seema kept increasing the distance consistently between her and the competition as the race progressed to finish a comfortable first. Ujala took the second place in 1:15:41, narrowly ahead of Sanjivani Jadhav, who finished in 1:15:52. Defending champion Lili Das clocked 1:16:27 to finish fourth.
