Kenyan Mary Keitany sets new record in Delhi Half Marathon

New Delhi, Nov 1 : Kenya's Mary Keitany won the women's race in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon here Sunday, clocking a new record of 66 min:54 sec. She left behind Ethopians Ayelew Wude (67:58) and Aberu Kebede (67:59) in second and third place, respectively, in the 21-km event.

In the men's section, Deriba Merga of Ethopia successfully defended his title with a timing of 59 min:54 sec. Eshetu Wendium of Ethopia took the second spot clocking 60:02 while Kenyan Wilson Kipsang (60:04) came third.

Among Indian runners, Deepchand Saharan (64 mins) and Sukanya Mall (80:11) took the first place in men's and women's section, respectively.

Santhosh Kumar (65:10) and Soji Mathews (65:18) were the second and third placed Indians in the men's section while Anuradha Singh (82:07) and Kamlesh Baghei (83:23) followed Sukanya to the finishing line in the women's section.

Deriba overcame a knee injury to win a hat-trick of titles in India. He won the Half Marathon here last year and followed it with a victory in Bangalore earlier this year.

It is also the first time that any athlete has successfully defended his title on the course.

"I wasn't very confident when I came here as I had just recovered from the knee injury which even forced me to skip the World Championships at Birmingham," Deriba said.

"I am not satisfied with my performance as I wanted to finish the race under 59 minutes. Hopefully, I'll return next year and break my record," said the Ethiopian who still holds the course record of 59 min:15 sec.

Keitany has been in great form this season and won the World Championship at Birmingham three weeks ago with a timing of 66 min:36 sec.

"The course is good and I felt comfortable. Next time when I come here I will chase the world record of 66 min:25 sec," she said.

--IANS