M A I N   N E W S

South African wins Mumbai Marathon
S Iyer

US athletes Mike Powell (R) and Michael Johnson run in the Mumbai International Marathon on Sunday. — Reuters photo

Mumbai, February 15
Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa and Violletta Uryga of Poland won the Standard Chartered Mumbai International full marathon (42 kms) in men and women events, respectively.

While Ramaala finished in 2:15.47 hours, Uryga made it in 2:47.53 hours.

In the second place were Julies Sugut of Kenya, with a timing of 2:16.36 hours while Luica Tomobo of Tanzania with a timing of 2:16.50 hours finished third. In the women’s section, Judith Nagy of Hungary with a timing of 2:49.50 hours finished second while Natalia Salushka Gilufumo of Belarus, who clocked 2:50.24 hours, finished third.

The Indian contenders finished way behind in the full marathon with K C Ramu of Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) clocking two hours and 54 minutes. He however won a Tata Indica as prize money.

Speaking to reporters after the event, winner Ramaala said his next goal is to win the gold medal at Athens scheduled for later this year. He said the timings he clocked at Mumbai today was badly affected by the humid weather and the uneven slope of the road. He had earlier clocked 2:08.58 at the London marathon last year.

While the serious runners slogged, Mumbai’s people hogged all the limelight. Present at the scene were models and Bollywood stars Dino Morea, Tara Sharma, Puru Raj Kumar, Jackie Shroff and his son Tiger. Actor  Rahul Bose who trained hard actually ran along with industrialist Anil Ambani. Others who hogged television time included Pooja Bedi, Sita Thompson, Tanuja, Tanisha Mukherji, Aryan Vaid, Mandira Bedi and others.

Women in sarees, tracksuits, shorts added much colour to the event.

Former actress Tina Ambani was there cheering for industrialist-husband Anil before leaving for the seven-km-long Dream Run — a truncated version of the marathon — herself.

The top contenders were provided shoes fitted with a micro-chip to prevent cheating, said Frank Ratajczak, Mika Timing, which supplied the chip.

The Asian Heart Institute provided medical care for all participants. The institute also provided a free stress test to all participants.

IANS adds: Tears of joy mingled with sweat and grime at the Mumbai Marathon as thousands of runners from 19 countries sought victory of the spirit over mere flesh Sunday.