Kenyan runners Peter Mwaniki (28:15) and Lilian Kasait (30:56) cruised to the international elite men’s and women’s titles respectively in the 16th edition of the Tata Consultancy Services World 10K Bengaluru here on Sunday.
Mwaniki shifted gears at the 7.5 km mark to leave his countryman Hillary Chepkwony (28:33) behind. It was a similar story for Lilian, who pulled away from the nearest rival Emmaculate Achol (31:17) at the 7.1 km mark.
Mwaniki and Lilian couldn’t break the event records (men: 27:38, women: 30:35) on this new route, which was praised by most runners. However, the finish line – stationed along a cordoned-off stretch on Cubbon Road – lacked buzz.
This was in contrast to previous editions, where the grand finish on the Sree Kanteerava Stadium running track was witnessed by big crowds of cheering runners and onlookers.
On Sunday, Mwaniki, Lilian and other medalists had only the photographers and a few event officials to share their joy with when they completed the run.
Setback
Lilian had to overcome a setback along the way. Near Ulsoor Lake, she nearly bumped into the timing vehicle, which seemingly made a wrong turn. “The car turned, so I thought it was a turning point and followed the car. But the officials on the motorbike told me to proceed (forward). So, I followed my colleague Emmaculate,” Lilian said.
Emmaculate, who vomited after finishing the run, had to be taken to the hospital. She was discharged a few hours later, organisers said.
Mwaniki explained that the course record could have been broken if the pacemaker had stayed longer. “We expected that the pacemaker would run five kilometres. But he dropped out at two kilometres. If the pacemaker had stayed for five km, it may have been possible to break the course record,” Mwaniki said.
Memorable day
It was a memorable day for Kiran Matre, who broke the event record for Indian men’s elite athletes. Matre’s 29:32 bettered the previous milestone of 29:49 set by Suresh Kumar in 2015.
Sanjivani (34:03) continued her impressive run in this event. This is the third consecutive time that Sanjivani (34:03) has finished on top of the Indian women’s elite field.
Mwaniki and Kasait took home $26,000 each. Matre and Sanjivani earned ₹2,75,000 each. Matre also secured a bonus of ₹1,00,000 for breaking the event record.
The results (top three): Elite men: 1. Peter Mwaniki (Ken) 28:15, 2. Hillary Chepkwony (Ken) 28:33, 3. Hagos Eyob (Eth) 28:39; Best Indian elite men: 1. Kiran Matre 29:32, 2. Ranjeet Patel 29:35, 3. Dharmendra 29:45.
Elite women: 1. Lilian Kasait (Ken) 30:56; 2. Emmaculate Achol (Ken) 31:17; 3. Lemlem Hailu (Eth) 31:23.
Best Indian elite women: 1. Sanjivani Jadhav 34:03; 2. Lilli Das 34:13, 3. Preenu Yadav, 34:24.
