Kenya`s Denis Ndiso wins Mumbai Marathon

Mumbai: Kenyans continued their domination in the Mumbai Marathon as Denis Ndiso won the seventh edition of the USD 3,10,000 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon here on Sunday. Ndiso finished the 42.1km race with a timing of 2 hours 12 minutes 34 seconds, comfortably ahead of the runner-up Siraj Gena of Ethiopia who clocked 2 hours 13 minutes 58 seconds. Kenya`s Samson, who completed the race in 2 hours 14 minutes 24 seconds came third.Frenchman Simon Munyutu, who was the early pace setter and was marginally ahead at the 10-km stretch, later ran out of steam and at the half-way mark it was Simon Kasmili who surged ahead. The scene again changed at the entrance of the Mumbai`s engineering marvel ?- Rajiv Gandhi Bandra-Worli Sea Link and the newest addition to the Marathon route, with Ndiso surging ahead of rest of the pack. During the run on the 5.6-km stretch over the sea, he kept his pace to ensure a comfortable win for himself. With the formidable lead, the Kenyan was the only thing of interest as it was to see whether he could break the course record set by last year`s winner compatriot Kenneth Mungara, who covered the distance in 2 hours 11 minutes 51 seconds. However, Ndiso missed the mark by 44 seconds. Meanwhile, Binning Lymgkhoi finished first among the Indians, clocking 2:20:12. He was followed by Ram Singh Yadav (2:21:02) and Arvind Yadav (2:22:50), respectively. In the women`s category, it was Ethiopians who dominated all the way and claimed all the top-10 positions, with Bizunesh Mohammed finishing first (2:31:09). Bizunesh was followed by Haile Kebebush (2:31:11) and Azalech Masrecha (2:32:12), respectively. Shastri Devi (3:10:03) and Jyoti Gawate (3:12:03) were the fastest Indian women finishing 13th and 14th respectively. Winners in both the men`s and women`s categories will receive prize money of USD 35,000 each, while the Indian toppers will receive a prize money of USD 6,000 each. India`s Kumar Sandeep, finished first among in the half marathon with a timing of 1:06:18, while compatriots Soji Matthew (1:06: 22) and Akki Irrapa D (1:06:59) finished second and third respectively. India`s Jayshree Shivshankar Boarge (1:26:06) was the fastest woman in the half-marathon, followed by compatriot Nilam Kadam (1:26:24) and Australia`s Amanda Harper (1:30:30). PTI