Ethiopian Hayle Lemi Berhanu and fellow country mate Aberash Minsewo paved the path for their nation’s dominance in the Elite men and women 19th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon, on a chilly Sunday morning. Bugatha Srinu and Thakor Nirmaben headlined the Indian toppers chart respectively.  (Photos By : Ashok Dhamija)

The annual World Athletics Gold Label Road Race as such witnessed participation from a record 59,000 athletes (2900 runners of whom participated virtually through the TMM app) from various walks of life in six categories, the maximum being 20,590 in the Dream Run and the highest tally of 10,711 runners in the Marathon. These enthusiastic and determined participants who showcased the undying spirit of the city were cheered by thousands of bystanders who lined the route including Katie Moon (TMM International Event Ambassador), Meb Keflegizhi (TMM Brand Ambassador), Adille J. Sumariwalla – President Athletics Federation of India.

The prominent among them included Natarajan Chandrasekaran – CEO, TATA Sons, Deepak Rajawat – CFO, Club Vistara, Sivakumar Sundaram – CEO BCCL, Parth Jindal – MD JSW Cements and JSW Paints, Iqbal Chawla – Commissioner, BMC, Vikas Rastogi – Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education Department, Government of Maharashtra who all took part in the Half Marathon. On the other hand Koji Hayashi – CFO, ASICS, Dr. Abdulnasser Alshaali – UAE ambassador to India, K Kritivasan – CEO TCS. Karthik Balagopan –MD Puma India, Ashok Kumar Mishra – GM , WR, Vijay Singhal – GM, BEST Mumbai, Vishwas Nangare Patil – DG ACB, Maharashtra took part in the 10 Km run.

Reigning TMM champion Lemi, who had won the 2016 Boson Marathon earlier was among the dozen athletes who set off together in the lead bunch with compatriots Kinde Atanaw, and Haymanot Alew as pacer Dominic Ngeno did the front running.  Kenya’s Dickson Kiptoo and Alew briefly took the lead slightly ahead of the others to cover the first 20Km in 60:30.

It was at 30 Km mark, the leading group became thinner and Lemi had the company of Kenyan Joshua Kogo and Ethiopia’s Mitku Tafa along with Alew and Kiptoo.  Soon Lemi and Alew increased their pace and broke away from the rest thereafter. Lemi, taking advantage of his previous experience on the Mumbai roads, raised his speed and ran the last five kilometres all alone.  With no one to push him, he had to make his assessment to run the waning stages of the race and hence missed an opportunity to improve his last year's winning time and course record (2:07:32) marginally after clocking  2:07:50 hrs   His teammates Haymnot Alew (2:09:03) and Mitku Tafa (2:09:58) took the next two places on the podium. 

Lemi became only the second athlete to defend the men’s crown in the history of TMM and joined the like of Kenyan runner John Kelai who won two back-to-back titles here during 2007-2008. Lemi was accompanied by Haymanot Alew and Mitku Tafa also from Ethiopia on the podium.  An elated Lemi post his achievement, said, “ It’s been an amazing run, am feeling extremely good. The best part is the support on the course. I was trying for the course record, but the last few kms were a little tough”.  

 On the other hand Aberash, a middle-distance runner primarily, overshadowed experienced campaigners from her country including reigning champion Anchialem Haymanot to ace the women’s title with a timing of 2:26:06 hrs. in her first ever marathon event. Aberash who took to road races in 2021, following her 3,000m Gold and Bronze medal winning efforts in the World Youth (U18) Championships 2017 and Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires, had finished fourth in the Delhi Half-Marathon last year.

 The 22-year-old exuberant runner however led the competition right from the beginning to the surprise of the rest and maintained her tempo throughout the race, even though her country-mates Ayinadis Teshome, Muluhabt Tsega and Medhin Bejene were in hot pursuit for the major part of the race. Not to be overwhelmed by the big occasion, Aberash accelerated with 2 Km remaining to lead the field with Tsega following her behind in a short distance, before tapping the finish exhausted on her debut. Muluhabt Tsega (2:26:51) and Medhin Bejene (2:27:34) completed the podium.  Incidentally the top six positions in the women’s category were all occupied by Ethiopian runners and complimented their male counterparts who were among the top ten.

A beaming Aberash, “I was so happy to win my first-ever marathon title on debut and that too in presence of an experienced field of runners from my own country who have be a source of inspiration to me.”

Both the Elite winners Hayle Lemi and Aberash Minsewo took home a top prize of USD 50,000 each from a total prize pot of USD 405,000 dished out by the organiser, Procam International.

TMM 2020 Indian winner Srinu Bugatha paced his run to perfection to beat fellow Army man and reigning national topper Gopi Thonakal by a margin of over a minute. Running neck to neck at the half way stage and also the 30 Km, the 31 year old who hails from Andhra Pradesh however took a substantial lead by the 40 Km mark. He ultimately finished with a timing of 2:17:29 against that of 02:18:37 clocked by the Asian Marathon Champions 2017. Another Army runner Sher Singh Tanwar (02:19:37) stood third and tenth overall.  Srinu who ended a 14 year long hiatus to become the best Indian Elite category and tenth overall was below his Personal Best of 2:14:59 which he registered in the 2021 Delhi Marathon had set his sight on the Paris Olympic 2024

 “I gave my best and definitely feel happy after winning the TMM, however the cut-off is well below the one expected to make the 2:08:00, qualification the cut-off. My only chance now is to perform well in my next Marathon that is schedule in Germany in April for which I’m confident of running under the qualification mark”.

The Indian women’s Elite category was won by Gujarat’s Nirmaben Thakor, 26, with Reshma Kevate and West Bengal’s Shyamali Singh, finishing second and third respectively.

Nirmaben who had finished fifth in the 2020 edition of the Mumbai Marathon in the Indian category post her win said,   “I was not getting adequate training and support in my native state, Now under Gujarat. But under Vijender sir’s guidance I trained a lot better to achieve success. It was difficult decision, but results are evident"

Results

Marathon Elite Male

Marathon Elite Women

IMAGICA Run In Costume Winners:

Individual:

1st - Sachin Dhavan

2nd - Ridhi Solanki

3rd - Supriya Gurung

Group:

1st - Udayan Care

2nd - Miten Shah

3rd - Assam Association Mumbai

Contest Judge - Sanjana Banerjee

Marathon Elite Men Indian

Marathon Elite Women Indian

Half Marathon Open Women

Half Marathon Open Men:

Half Marathon Age Category (Women)

Half Marathon Age Category (Men)

Police Cup Team Results (Men)

Police Cup Team Results (Women)