Sawan Barwal, Lili Das top Indian Elite category

Olympian Joshua Cheptegei lived up to his billing to take home the Men’s crown, while Alemaddis Eyayu piped pre-race favourite Cynthia Limo in a highly competitive race for a surprise win in the Women’s race in Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2024 (VDHM), a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race in the Indian capital. The 19th edition of the VDHM, that is being ogarnised since 2005 by Mumbai based Procam International, the pioneers of the popular Mumbai Marathon that is amongst the top 10 marathons in the world. The annual event which was graced by two-time Discuss Throw Olympic champion Valarie Allman (USA) inspired 36,000 runners who participated in five categories.

Kenya’s Alex Matata (27) who was  unbeaten in all three races he took part in in Europe earlier this year, with two sub-60 minutes clocking in two of them, led a major part of the race with his teammate Nicholas Kipkorir, who ran his maiden half marathon internationally.

It was at the turn close to the finish line at the iconic Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, Uganda's Cheptegei, running seconds behind the Kenyan snatched the lead from Matata in the face of now-or-never situation. The 28-year went on to win in 59 minutes 46 seconds. Matata (59:53) and Kipkorir (59:59) completed the podium with the Ugandan.       

Incidentally, the Vedanta Delhi half marathon was one of the fastest races in the World and usually saw incredible timings by the participants. Ethiopian Deriba Merga was the first to post a sub-60-minute winning time in 2008 when all the podium finishers dipped under 1 hour. This action was repeated several times in some of the subsequent editions at Delhi, wherein 2014 witnessed a record number of nine runners finishing within 60 minutes.

Former world champion Muktar Edris from Ethiopia, another pre-race favourite, finished fifth (60:52), while Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu (60:40) got the fourth place.  

The 5000 and 1000m world record holder Joshua Cheptegei, said that “This win in Delhi was special to me because it is my first-ever victory in a Half Marathon.  I am delighted with my performance and hope to continue in the same manner in the future races”.   

Alemaddis Eyayu on the other hand extended the Ethiopian winning streak in Delhi in the Women’s category.   Kenya’s Cynthia Limo, who led the field right from the beginning ahead of Scotland’s Commonwealth Champion Eilish McColgan trailed who had the fastest and only sub-66 minute timing among the elite women at the starting lineup. 

However, two Ethiopians, Eyayu and Tiruye Mesfin, stuck with Limo for the entire part of the race. At the 10K mark Eyayu and Limo who were both at level took over the leadership role in the women’s race. However, the 24-year old Ethiopian runner pulled ahead in the second phase of the race, against the 2015 winner Limo leaving her 10-15 seconds behind.  It was a crucial deciding factor at the end as Eyayu crossed the finish line 68:17 for the top spot, while Limo did so 10 seconds later.  Mesfin clocked 69:42 for third and McColgan 69:55 to finish fourth and outside the podium.   

“I had a good race, tried to keep my pace and aimed to finish well.  I am happy to have achieved it” said a beaming Eyayu.

Both the International Men and Women champion took home a prize money of USD 27,000, USD 20,000 & USD 13,000 respectively form the total purse of USD 260,000 for the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon.

The Indian Elite category too saw maiden winners with Sawan Barwal acing the Men’s category and debutant Lili Das the Women’s crown

Having being part of the podium last year, Barwal improved on his bronze medal winning effort with a gold this time around with a timing of 1:02:46. He finished ahead of Puneet Yadav, bettering his personal best in the process. Kiran Matre grabbed the third spot to complete the podium in the men's event.

After the race, an emotional Sawan was ecstatic said, "It has been a great ride from the last Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon to the current edition (bronze to gold in the Indian Elite Men's category). I did not enter thinking about finishing in 62 minutes, but the way I started and when I settled into the race, I knew I could go all the way."

Lili Das made a dream debut as she was miles ahead of her competitors soon after the 15km mark after being placed 9th at the 10-kilometer mark, before going on the bag the gold with a timing of 1:18:12 in the Indian Elite Women's category, one minute and 32 seconds ahead of her closet rival and last year's winner Kavita Yadav.

Kavita, who clocked 1:19:44 as she finished in the top 3 for a second straight edition of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon. In third place was 2022 Asian Games bronze medallist Priti Lamba, who crossed the finish line at the 1:20:21 mark.

Lili, who fought cramps due to dehydration on the way to her gold, spoke about the experience of landing on the podium in her very first Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, "It is a very good feeling to win the Delhi Half Marathon in my very first attempt in the face of cramps up around the 19th kilometer. It was a scary moment, but I fought it and worked very hard to finish the final 2 kilometers”.

Earlier the races were flagged off by Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Non-Executive Director, Vedanta and Chairperson, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, in the august presence of Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Raksha Nikhil Khadse, Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Vice Admiral, Atul Anand, AVSM, VSM, Indian Navy, Adille Sumariwala, President of Indian Athletics. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Captain of the Indian National Football Team and other dignitaries. On the occasion the Delhites came together once again to showcase the spirit of their city and promote healthy lifestyles during the much awaited annual Half Marathon, an AIMS-certified race. 

The event witnessed participation from thousands of runners, from seasoned athletes enthusiastic amateurs, promoting fitness among the community. On the philanthropic front, 78 NGO, over 80 individual fundraisers, and 12 corporates, alongside thousands of donors, collectively raised Rs 3 crore for various charitable causes, embodying the essence of unity and social responsibility that Delhi is known for. Many celebrities and influencers including Milind Soman, RJ Naved, Gul Panag, and various Delhi-based cyclist, fitness and runners’ clubs on the occasion lent their support to the cause of #RunForZeroHunger too.

Photo Cover: Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei crosses the finish line to win the overall men’s title at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2024 in presence of Valarie Allman, International Event Ambassador, VDHM 2024 & Adille Sumariwala, President of Indian Athletics.  

Photo Above: Tens of hundreds of athletes also participated in the Champions with Disability and Citizen's Run