Tata Steel Marathon: Daniel Ebenyo, Sutume Kebede win titles; Gulveer sets new course record

Ethiopian marathon champion Sutume Kebede put in an impressive performance to defend her women’s crown in the ninth edition of the Tata Steel World 25km road race on Sunday. Ugandan Stephen Kissa overtook defending champion Daniel Ebenyo from Kenya to lift the men’s title.

India’s elite runners also performed impressively, with Gulveer Singh setting a new course record in the men’s category and Sanjivani Jadhav winning the women’s title in the World Athletics Gold Label competition.

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The cool morning weather provided a welcome backdrop for runners as over 20,500 people took part in various categories, boosting the race’s popularity. Among international runners, Kebede recovered from stomach problems just in time to defend her title with a time of 1:19:17 seconds. Although Kebede was unable to better her own course record of 1:18:47 that she set here last year, she was pleased with retaining the crown, which was won after outstanding performances in the Houston Half Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon, where she previously took first place. in a year.

Kissa made his 25km race debut in style, maintaining a steady pace with defending champion Ebenyo for most of the race before storming into the lead by the 20km mark. He kept it to the finish line and touched the tape four seconds ahead of the pre-race favorite.

Gulveer lit up the Indians’ day as he sprinted away from his rivals in the final stage and recorded the fastest time of the course with a time of 1:14:10. His rival Sawan achieved a short time of 1:14:11 and crossed the finish line with a slight loss. Sanjivani, who returned to the race after a year’s break, improved her record by more than five minutes and won in a time of 1:29:08.