Olympian Joshua Cheptegei lived up to his billing with the win. Alemaddis Eyayu pushed pre-race favourite Cynthia Limo behind for a surprise win in the women’s race in today’s Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon at the Indian capital.

Kenya’s Alex Matata (27) led a major part of the race with his teammate Nicholas Kipkorir, who ran his debut half marathon internationally. Kipkorir was a bronze medalist in the 5km World Championships last year. 

 Overall Winner Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei crosses the finish line at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2024.JPG

Matata was unbeaten in all three races he took part in Europe earlier this year, with two sub-60 minute clockings. That made the race exciting, and everyone was looking for a fast finish timing from the men’s winner. Matata keeps the lead until the runners turn toward the finish line in the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, where the race commenced less than an hour earlier to decide the 2024 title. Cheptegei, running seconds behind the Kenyan, realized the now-or-never situation and came from behind to snatch the lead from Matata to win in 59 minutes 46 seconds. Matata (59:53) and Kipkorir (59:59) complete the podium with the Ugandan.        

Incidentally, the Vedanta Delhi half marathon was one of the fastest races in the World and usually saw fast results by the participants. Ethiopian Deriba Merga was the first to post a sub-60-minute winning time in 2008 when all the podium finishers dipped under 1 hour. This action was repeated several times in some of the subsequent editions at Delhi, wherein 2014 witnessed a record number of nine runners finishing within 60 minutes. 

Former world champion Muktar Edris from Ethiopia, another pre-race favourite, finished fifth (60:52), while Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu (60:40) took fourth place.   

Cheptegei, with multiple world titles on his cap, said, “this win in Delhi was special to me because it is my first-ever victory in a Half Marathon. India has been important for my career, and this country now means a lot to me. I felt good throughout the race despite the slow start. My first aim was to catch up with Nicholas (Kipkorir) and then Alex (Matata) in the final few kilometres of the race. I am delighted with my performance and hope to continue in the same manner in the future races.”    

Thank you, Vedanta Delhi Half, for a wonderful race. This has been a special race that tested my mind. Initially, I felt some problems in my feet around 16-17 km, but I decided to push and catch up with Nicholas, and then for about two kilometres, we pushed each other.  I took it slow because I didn’t want to burn out, and I wanted to finish strong. Now I go back home with a feeling to conquer the roads,” he further revealed.

Eyayu beats favourite Limo to win the women’s title

Alemaddis Eyayu extended the Ethiopian winning streak in Delhi. Kenya’s Cynthia Limo, the pre-race favourite, led the field right from the beginning while Scotland’s Commonwealth Champion Eilish McColgan followed. McColgan had the fastest and only sub-66 minute timing among the elite women who took the starting lineup today. However, two Ethiopians, Eyayu and Tiruye Mesfin stuck with Limo for much of the race.          

Limo, who won the women’s title here in 2015, had returned to Delhi after nine years. Following her victory in the Indian capital, the Kenyan runner secured a silver medal in Cardiff’s 2016 World Half Marathon championships. 

Eyayu and Limo passed the 10km mark together and remained the sole leaders in the women’s race. However, the Ethiopian runner pulled ahead in the second phase of the race, leaving Limo 10-15 seconds behind. It was a crucial deciding factor at the end as Eyayu crossed the finish line 68:17 for the top spot, while Limo did so 10 seconds later.  Mesfin clocked 69:42 for third and McColgan 69:55 to finish fourth and outside the podium.    

Elite Women winner Ethiopia’s Alemaddis Eyayu, with the victory

“I had a good race, tried to keep my pace and aimed to finish well.  I am happy to have achieved it” Eyayu said during the post-event press conference.

Limo said she was happy to join the Delhi podium after nine years. “Securing second place is incredible, one that fills me with pride. The atmosphere was electric, with people lining the streets and cheering us. It’s heartwarming to see how the city comes together. This experience has been truly special; the support from the spectators, their enthusiasm, and the overall energy of the event have made this return to Delhi unforgettable,” was Limo’s reaction to the race.

The total prize purse for the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon is USD 260,000. The podium finishers both men and women will take home USD 27,000, USD 20,000 & USD 13,000 respectively.  

Sawan Barwal betters previous performance, Lili Das has dream debut

Sawan Barwal will go home with the gold medal this time around after finishing on the podium of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon for a second straight edition. With a 1:02:46, Barwal finished ahead of Puneet Yadav, bettering his personal best in the process. Kiran Matre grabbed the third spot to complete the podium for the Indian Elite Men’s event.

Barwal, who won bronze in 2023, was behind Puneet at the 10km mark but left his best for the final stretch of the race. Taking advantage of an opening, he pushed himself in the final quarter and eventually secured the top spot with a difference of almost one minute and nine seconds.

After the race, an emotional Sawan was ecstatic about turning the bronze to gold as he shed some light on his performance, saying, “It has been a great ride from the last Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon to the current edition. We are nearing the end of the season, and I was happy with the preparations throughout the season, I used that to my advantage this time around. I did not enter thinking about finishing in 62 minutes, but the way I started and when I settled into the race, I knew I could go all the way.”

In the Indian Elite Women’s category, Lili Das was miles ahead of her competitors, securing the gold with a timing of 1:18:12. Coming in second was last year’s winner Kavita Yadav, who clocked 1:19:44 as she finished in the top 3 for a second straight edition of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon. In third place was 2022 Asian Games bronze medallist Priti Lamba, who crossed the finish line at the 1:20:21 mark.

In the 9th position at the 10km mark, Lili upped the ante to reach the top spot at the 15th km. She maintained the lead with a massive effort and went on to win the gold by a massive difference of 1 minute and 32 seconds ahead of Kavita.

Lili, who fought cramps on the way to her gold, spoke about the experience of landing on the podium in her very first Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, “It is a very good feeling to win the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon in my very first attempt. I felt a little bit of dehydration during the race which I was worried about, but I am glad that I was able to finish the race. I cramped up around the 19th km and it was a scary moment, but I fought it and worked very hard to finish the final 2km. After doing well in track and field events, winning gold in a half marathon feels great.”

Results

PROVISIONAL RESULTS:

INTERNATIONAL MEN:

1Joshua CheptegeiUganda0:59:46
2Alex MatataKenya0:59:53
3Nicholas KipkorirKenya0:59:59
4Alphonce SimbuTanzania1:00:40
5Muktar EdrisEthiopia1:00:52
6Ismael KipronoKenya1:00:53
7Levy KibetKenya1:01:29
8Dinkalem AyeleEthiopia1:02:00
9Malede BukayawIsrael1:02:43
10Embay GoitomEthiopia1:02:44
11Sawan BarwalIndia1:02:46


INTERNATIONAL WOMEN:

1Alemaddis EyayuEthiopia1:08:17
2Cynthia LimoKenya1:08:27
3Tiruye MesfinEthiopia1:09:42
4Eilish MccolganUnited Kingdom1:09:55
5Yalemget YaregalEthiopia1:10:21
6Zerihun AlemstsehayEthiopia1:13:41
7Gelane GetuEthiopia1:14:53
8Balemlay ShumetEthiopia1:15:25
9Dibabe BeyeneEthiopia1:16:57
10Lili DasIndia1:18:12

INDIAN MEN:

1Sawan BarwalIndia1:02:46
2Puneet YadavIndia1:03:55
3Kiran MatreIndia1:04:58
4Sahil GillIndia1:06:09
5Shankar Lal SwamiIndia1:06:33
6Mohd AleemIndia1:06:34
7Harish SheoranIndia1:06:34
8Kalidas HiraveIndia1:06:59
9Gagan SinghIndia1:07:33
10Kartik Jayraj KarkeraIndia1:08:08

INDIAN WOMEN:

1Lili DasIndia1:18:12
2Kavita YadavIndia1:19:44
3Priti LambaIndia1:20:20
4Archana JadhavIndia1:20:21
5Basanti KumariIndia1:20:25
6Jyoti SarojIndia1:20:38
7Aradhana KumariIndia1:21:17
8Ravina GayakwadIndia1:21:47
9Rima PatelIndia1:22:03