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At the ‘Pasta Cook-ff’ of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon at the Trident on Saturday (from L to R) Frank Schloder – Director Marketing, BMW; Bollywood Actress Neha Dhupia; Jaspal Bindra – Group Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, Asia at Standard Chartered, Sunil Kaushal – Regional CEO India and South Asia, Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and Rahul Bose.
Saturday, 18th January 2014: The world’s finest distance runners will take center stage on the grand platform that has been set up for the eleventh edition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, which will be flagged off from outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).
Keeping them company will be India’s best long distance athletes as well as 39,590 participants, competing in the different categories on race day.
Weather predictions for Sunday’s race are good and a timing of 2:08 is realistic for the men according to Jos Hermens of Global Sports Communication, Netherlands, the elite athletes’ coordinators.
In the men’s elite race, leading the competition is a clear favourite, Kenya’s Evans Cheruiyot, with a personal best of 2:06.25 and the second fastest man, Ethiopian Eshetu Wendimu, with a personal best of 2:06.46. Along with them are 16 athletes who have a personal best of below 2:10 and will pose a tough competition in the elite category.
The other men to look out for will be Ethiopian Hailu Mekonnen, Kenyans Stephen Chebogut, winner of the Istanbul Marathon, Ishhimael Busendich and former Mumbai Marathon winners, John Kelai (2007, 2008), Kenneth Mungara (2009) and Girma Assefa (2011).
Among the women, the Ethiopian Dinknesh Mekash leads the field with a personal best of 2:25.09 along with Etalemahu Kidane (PB 2:25.49), Asnakech Mengistu (PB 2:25.50) and Aberu Mekuria (PB 2:26.07), who also finished third last year.
The Kenyan challenge will come from Eunice Kales and outsider Gladys Kipsoi, a half marathon specialist, making her full marathon debut. Namibian Helalia Johannes and Ukranian Yuliya Ruban are the other names in the reckoning.
The Indian men’s race is also expected to be a close encounter. Binning, a three-time winner here will face opposition from the fastest athlete in the field, Ram Singh Yadav, returning after a one-year break. The other big names in the fray are Elam Singh of ASI, Pune, who has a PB of 2:18.27, Karan Singh, V L Dangi and Budha Ram, all capable of running below 2:21.
The women’s full marathon has been dominated by Lalita Babbar for the last two years and she will be aiming for a hat-trick as she lines up on Sunday. Babbar will face competition from Vijay Mala Patil and Rohini Raut, who finished second and third, respectively, last year.
The women’s field also has names like Neelam Rajput, Bhagwati Devi, Anisa Devi and M Sudha, among others, while making their debut will be Manisha Salunkhe, Rashmi Gurnule and Supriya Patil.
The man’s half marathon also has a strong Indian contingent, with 2012 winner Shoji Mathew, BC Tilak, Indrajeet Patel, Yogesh Sardesai, Ajay Bir Singh and Vishram Meena among the contenders.
As part of the distance running tradition, promoters Procam International organised the ‘Pasta Lunch’. The event witnessed a live pasta cook-out involving event ambassador Damom Hill, Rahul Bose, Neha Dhupia, Dalip Tahil, Jaspal Bindra, Sumit Singh, Standard Chartered Bank, Frank Schloder – Director Marketing, BMW, , Vishal Jhunjhunwala, TCS, Anil & Vivek Singh from Promoters, Procam International as they wore their toque’s and experimented their culinary skills.
The race day will also see in action different personalities from India Inc. and Bollywood. Representing India Inc, will be the country’s top honchos and running enthusiast Anil Ambani, N Chandrasekaran, Erick Haskel among others.
The Bollywood fraternity would be represented by John Abraham, the event ambassador, Rahul Bose, Karan Johar, Suneeta Rao, Shaan, Prateik Babbar, Dia Mirza, Shyam Benegal, Pooja Chopra, Mansi Scott, Tara Sharma, Hema Sardesai, Milind Soman, Gulzar Saab, Hema Malini, Aftab Shivdasani among others.
The Amateur Marathon will start at 5.40 am From CST, followed by Half Marathon at 6.00 am from Bandra and Full Marathon Elite Men at 7.20 am. These will be followed by the Champions With Disability at 7.35 am, the Senior Citizens’ Run at 8.00 am and the Dream Run at 9.00 am.
Race Day proceedings will be telecast live on Star Sports 4, the Channel Partner from 7.00 am to 10.00 am with a simulcast on DD Sports, the Broadcast Partner.
