Kenyan runners Peter Mwaniki (28:15) and Lilian Kasait (30:56) cruised to the international elite men’s and women’s titles respectively, in the 16th edition of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru here on Sunday.
Mwaniki shifted gears at the 7.5 km mark to leave his countryman Hillary Chepkwony behind.
It was a similar story for Lilian, who pulled away from the nearest rival Emmaculate Achol at the 7.1 km mark.
Mwaniki and Lilian were unable to break the event records (men - 27:38, women - 30:35) on this new route.
The new route was praised by most runners, but the finish line - stationed along a cordoned-off stretch on Cubbon Road - lacked buzz.
This was in contrast to previous editions, where the grand finish on the Sree Kanteerava Stadium running track witnessed several cheering runners and onlookers.
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On Sunday, Mwaniki, Lilian and other medalists had only the photographers and a few event officials to share their joy with when they completed the run.
Lilian had to overcome a setback along the way. Near Ulsoor Lake, she nearly bumped into the timing vehicle, which seemingly made a wrong turn. “The car turned, so I thought it was a turning point and followed the car. But the officials on the motorbike told me to proceed (forward), so I followed my colleague Emmaculate,” Lilian said.
Emmaculate had to be taken to the hospital after finishing the run. She was discharged a few hours later, organisers said.
Mwaniki explained that the course record could have been broken if the pacemaker had stayed on longer. “Our expectation was that the pacemaker would run five kilometres. But he dropped out at two kilometres. If the pacemaker had stayed for five kilometres, it may have been possible to break the course record,” Mwaniki said.
It was a memorable day for Kiran Matre, who broke the event record for Indian men’s elite athletes. Matre’s 29:32 bettered the previous milestone of 29:49 set by Suresh Kumar in 2015.
Sanjivani (34:03) continued her impressive run in this event. This is the third consecutive time that Sanjivani (34:03) has finished on top of the Indian women’s elite field.
Mwaniki and Kasait took home $26,000 each. Matre and Sanjivani earned ₹2,75,000 each. Matre also secured a bonus of ₹1,00,000 for breaking the event record.
RESULTS-
The results (top three):
Elite men:
1) Peter Mwaniki (Kenya) 28:15
2) Hillary Chepkwony (Kenya) 28:33
3) Hagos Eyob (Ethiopia) 28:39
Best Indian elite men:
1) Kiran Matre, 29:32
2) Ranjeet Patel, 29:35
3) Dharmendra, 29:45
Elite women:
1) Lilian Kasait (Kenya) 30:56
2) Emmaculate Achol (Kenya) 31:17
3) Lemlem Hailu (Ethiopia) 31:23
Best Indian elite women:
1) Sanjivani Jadhav, 34:03
2) Lilli Das, 34:13
3) Preenu Yadav, 34:24
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