Delhi Half Marathon

Delhi Half Marathon

Nehru Stadium, the starting point of the Delhi Half Marathon
Date November
Location New Delhi
Event type Road
Distance Half marathon
Established 2005

The Delhi Half Marathon is an annual half marathon foot-race held in New Delhi, India. Established in 2005, it is both an elite runner and mass participation event. It is an AIMS-certified course and is listed as a Gold Label Road Race by the IAAF.[1][2] The 2009 event attracted around 29,000 runners who competed in one of the four races:[3] the half marathon, the 7 km Great Delhi Run, a 4.3 km run for senior citizens, and a 3.5 km wheelchair race.[4]

The half marathon is the elite runner race, while the Great Delhi Run attracts the majority of participants overall. The inaugural edition in 2005 had total prize money of US$310,000 to attract high calibre professional athletes.[5] The prize for the winners of the men's and women's race was $25,000 dollars in 2009.[6] The race was sponsored Hutchison Essar for its first two races, and the company sponsored the event as Vodafone Essar in 2007 following a takeover. Rival communications company Airtel held the sponsor role in 2008, 2009 and 2010.[2]

The course starts in the Nehru Stadium, although this was temporarily moved to the grounds of the Central Secretariat while the stadium was under renovation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[7]

The race is largely flat and has delivered fast winning times in its short history, with men producing a number of sub-one hour times and women recording times under 1:08:00.[8][9][10]

The race attracts culturally prominent supporters: Indian actors Arshad Warsi and Rahul Bose were present in 2010, while Sheila Dikshit awarded prizes to the event winners.[11] Actress Gul Panag participated that year but criticised the attitude of the city's men after she was groped mid-race: "Delhi men won't let go of any opportunity to eve-tease or behave indecently. The people's mindset has not changed despite hosting a mega event like Commonwealth Games in October and it is definitely not an ideal place for women".[12]

Past winners

Key:       Course record

Edition Year Men's winner Time Women's winner Time
1st 2005  Philip Rugut (KEN) 1:01:55  Irina Timofeyeva (RUS) 1:10:35
2nd 2006  Francis Kibiwott (KEN) 1:01:36  Lineth Chepkurui (KEN) 1:10:40
3rd 2007  Dieudonné Disi (RWA) 1:00:43  Deriba Alemu (ETH) 1:10:30
4th 2008  Deriba Merga (ETH) 59:15  Aselefech Mergia (ETH) 1:08:17
5th 2009  Deriba Merga (ETH) 59:54  Mary Keitany (KEN) 1:06:54
6th 2010  Geoffrey Mutai (KEN) 59:38  Aselefech Mergia (ETH) 1:08:35
7th 2011[13]  Lelisa Desisa (ETH) 59:30  Lucy Wangui (KEN) 1:07:04

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ AIMS Race Directory. Association of International Marathons and Distance Races. Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  2. ^ a b Airtel looks at leveraging ‘world’s richest’ Delhi marathon. MSN (2009-10-29). Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  3. ^ Keitany sub-1:07 again, Merga defends in Delhi Half Marathon. IAAF (2009-11-01). Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  4. ^ 30,000 people run the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. Hindustan Times (2009-11-01). Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  5. ^ Delhi marathon hits rough weather. The Hindu (2005-07-22). Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  6. ^ Defending champions return, but Mergia will have Keitany to contend with - Delhi Half Marathon preview. IAAF (2009-10-30). Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  7. ^ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2007-10-28). Disi, Alemu the winners in New Delhi Half-Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  8. ^ Delhi attracts high quality field and Jackie Joyner-Kersee's assistance - PREVIEW. IAAF (2008-11-07). Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  9. ^ Half Marathon All Time – Women. IAAF (2009-10-11). Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  10. ^ Half Marathon All Time – Men. IAAF (2009-10-11). Retrieved on 2009-11-01.
  11. ^ Murali, Ram. Krishnan (2010-11-21). Mergia recaptures women’s crown, Mutai foils Ethiopian sweep at Delhi Half Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-27.
  12. ^ Sharma, Kalpana (2010-11-27). Unsafe for women?. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2010-11-27.
  13. ^ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2011-11-27). In close races, Desisa and Kabuu prevail in New Delhi Half. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.

External links

Road running competitions in India
Bangalore Marathon • Chennai Marathon • GiveLife Chennai Marathon • Great Tibetan Marathon • Indira National Open Marathon • Mumbai Marathon • Pune International Marathon • Taj Mahal Marathon
Delhi Half Marathon • Hyderabad 10K • World 10K Bangalore • Nagpur International Marathon • Auroville Marathon
See also: Athletics in India