Sable’s natl mark in Delhi half-marathon
NEW DELHI: Avinash Sable ran a blistering pace to set a national record, clocking 60 minutes, 30 secs to top the chart among Indian runners in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday. Unlike previous years, the race was confined to the elite runners, international and domestic. And like every year, the focus was on distance runners from Africa’s rift valley, including Ethiopian two-time 5,000m world champion, Muktar Edris, who made his halfmarathon debut.
The coronavirus pandemic meant the elite athletes tackled the course without many spectators or the buzz of thousands of enthusiastic amateur participants. They were still motivated to go all out as the course record was smashed in the men’s and women’s races by a decent margin. Ethiopia’s Amdework Walelegn outsprinted compatriot and twice champion Andamlak Belihu in the last 200m, winning a thrilling men’s race with a meet record of 58 min, 53 secs. Belihu clocked 58:54. Uganda’s Stephen Kissa was third in 58:56. Edris came fourth at 59:04. All went under the course record of 59:06 set by Guye Adola in 2014. Walelegn took the top prize of $27,000 (approx. ₹20 lakh).
The men’s world record stands at 58.01. The runners were helped by a course with fewer turns with good pace-setting helping them go all out.
Sable supreme
Sable turned out to be the scenestealer for India. The spotlight was on the Army runner, who has qualified in 3000m steeplechase for the Tokyo Olympics but starved of competition due to the pandemic-forced lockdown, he entered here to test the basic work he had put in. He displayed heart, first keeping pace with the leading bunch and then comfortably finding his own gear behind, way ahead of the other Indian runners. Sable ran his own race and the TV camera only spotted him as he was about to cross the finish line. He improved Kalidas Nirave’s national mark of 63:46. The course mark for Indian runners was 63:54.
“I wanted to set a new standard for Indian runners. I was determined to change something. For the last 16 years, every year it is asked why no Indian is winning. The target was to run a sub-61 and I’m happy I was able to do it,” Sable said.
“I like road running. I’ve been training well but there was hardly any competition in the
last one year. I wanted to test my endurance before the Olympics. I was prepared to run with the pack of international athletes. I stayed as close as possible to them for the first 7-8km and then ran at my pace. I was comfortable and maintained my pace after crossing 10km.”
Asked about the poor pollution level and whether he felt any discomfort, Sable said, “I faced little bit of difficulty for a small stretch in between 14-15 km but that was it.”
Neatly paced
Sable ran a superb opening 5km in 13 min 58 secs. As the race wore on, he trailed 17 seconds off the leading packing, covering 10km in 28 min, 08 sec. While the leading runners averaged 2 min 48 secs for the race, Sable’s was an impressive 2min 53 secs as he came in 10th overall.
As Sable crossed the finish line, England’s Tim Hutchings, Olympian and seasoned TV commentator, was all praise. “This is a world class effort from Sable, which has come from an Indian runner after 15 years of Delhi half marathon. This would enable him to smash his 3000m steeplechase time in Tokyo,” he said. Sable’s scorching pace left behind the next two Indians— Srinu Bugatha (64:16) and Durga Bahadur (64:19)—way behind. Sable won a prize money of ₹4.5 lakh, including an event record bonus of ₹1 lakh.
“My focus will now shift
exclusively to steeplechase as the Olympics is just months away. I won’t take part in any more half marathons. I’m confident I can give an even better performance in the Olympics,” said Sable, the steeplechase national record holder. His coach Amrish Kumar had predicted a fast time and is confident his ward is on course for the Olympics. “We are on track. Today’s performance would certainly help in further improving Avinash’s steeplechase time of 8 min, 21.7 secs,” he said.
Yehualaw on fire
Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw won the women’s race in 64:46 secs, the second fastest over the distance, just 15 seconds short of the world record.
Kenyan 2019 world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich (65:06) came second and Ethiopian world record holder Ababel Yeshaneh (1:05.21) was third. Kenya’s male runner Alex Kibarus seemed to set too hot a pace as pace-setter.
Many in the elite field fell behind, including 2019 champion and previous record holder Teshay Gemechu and Yeshaneh.
Women’s marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei, also the 2019 and 2020 London marathon champion, limped out midway through the race.
In the Indian women’s category, Parul Chaudhary won at 72:18 with Sanjivani second (73:00).