Mumbai: It was only his first race in Mumbai but Kenya’s Evans Ruto put in a commendable effort to register his third fastest personal best to clinch the Mumbai Marathon with a time of 2:09:33. The 30-year-old overcame stiff resistance from fellow countrymen Lawrence Kimaiyo (2:09:45) and Philemon Baaru 2:09:58, but fell agonizingly short of the course record by barely one second.
It was the first time that all the podium finishers in Mumbai clocked sub 2:10:00 timings. Commonwealth Games champion John Kelei and Kenneth Mungaram, former winner at the Mumbai Marathon finished outside the top-10.
Lalita Babar completes hat-trick
Among the Indian elite runners, Lalita Babar once again stole the show with her third straight gold medal. Her hat-trick was even more special as she clocked 2:50:31 to set a new course record.
In the men’s field, Karan Singh finished top among the Indians and 16th overall but his finish time of 2:24:08 was also the slowest in eight years.
