Defending champions return for Delhi half-marathon

New Delhi: More than 40 athletes, led by the defending champions Deriba Merga (men) and Aselefech Mergia (women), will be seen in action at this year`s Delhi Half Marathon to be held on November 1 here. The USD 2,10,000 event is expected to see a total participation of around 28,000 people, of which 18,000 entries have already been registered by the organisers. "There is a deluge of last minute entries. Round the clock efforts are on to clear the influx and get a clear picture of the exact numbers in each category," said Dilip Jayram, COO, Procam Internationals, the promoters of the event. Jayram said the response to the charity drive has also been very encouraging with major corporate entities lining up for the Corporate Challenge and the Corporate Sporting Challenge. "Last year, the event had generated Rs 1.62 crore towards charity. A total of 60 NGOs have registered themselves with Concern India Foundation, the official charity partner of the event this year. 41 corporate teams, representing 33 corporate entities, have signed up for the corporate challenge," Jayram said. Till date, 11 Dream Teamers have registered for the event. Meanwhile, defending men`s champion Merga of Ethiopia comes here after winning the Sunfeast World 10K race in Bangalore in May. Merga will be pushed hard by Kenya`s Wilson Kipsang and Wilson Chebet, who had finished second and third in the last edition. The other leading athlete in fray include the 19-year-old Ethiopian Tilahun Regassa, the fastest ever junior who clocked 59.36 at Lille, France in 2008 and finished fourth last year with a timing of 60.28, South African Stephen Mokoko and Qatar`s Ahmad Hassan Abdullah. The women`s field is spearheaded by Ethiopia`s Mergia, who finished runner-up at Ras-Al-Khamiah in February. Aselefech will have to contend with the strong challenge of Kenyan Mary Keitany, who is credited with 2009`s fastest timing of 67 minutes, clocked in Lille in September. The other leading women athletes in the fray are 19-year-old Abebu Gelan of Ethiopia, the world junior record holder. The Indian challenge will be led by the defending champions among the men and women, Sandeep Kumar and Kavita Raut. Both Sandeep and Kavita broke the existing course record for Indians while clocking 1:04.53 and 1:17.12 respectively. The other names among the Indian men are Ram Singh Yadav, thrice winner of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, Kashinath Asawale, runner-up in the last year`s edition, Deep Chand Saharan, Irappa Akki, B C Tilak and Soji Mathew. In women`s category, Preeti L Rao, last year runner-up, Sukanya Mall, Kiran Tiwary, Indresh Dhiraj and Vaishali Chatare. Bureau Report