Kenya’s Cosmas Lagat went against all odds and climatic challenges to win the Tata Mumbai marathon yesterday in India and pocketed Ksh 4.5 million.
Lagat finished the race with a record time of 2:09:15, the fastest time in the history of the event. The race started naturally steady with three pacemakers leading a pack of 14 runners through the first 10km in 30:53 and then the 20km mark in 1:02:18 reaching tha halfway point in 1:05:15.
Lagat, however, made a decisive move just before hitting 29km leaving a significant gap between himself and his rivals and slowly splitting up the leading park. Lagat passed 30km mark in 1:32:34, assisted by two pacemakers whom he kept instructing to go faster, with a chasing pack of seven men just 11 seconds behind.
Speaking to reporters, Lagat said he ran the final 10km of the race in fear but was feeling strong.
“It was a good moment to make a break, but I also knew there were good runners behind me,” he said. “From 35km, I was never sure how close they were to me or whether they were coming back to me.”
Ethiopia’s Aychew Bantie and Aklnew Shumet finished second and third respectively with times of 2:10:05 and 2:10:14. Lagat’s fellow Kenyans Daniel Muteti and Silas Too finished fourth and sixth respectively with times of 2:10:55 and 2:12:06.
Ethiopia’s Worknesh Alemu won the women’s race in 2:25:45, giving hope that the course record of 2:24:33 set by Kenya’s Valentine Kipketer in 2013 could still be challenged.
