{"id":868,"date":"2011-11-16T11:12:47","date_gmt":"2011-11-16T11:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=868"},"modified":"2011-11-16T11:12:47","modified_gmt":"2011-11-16T11:12:47","slug":"super-fast-fields-for-delhi-half-marathon-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=868","title":{"rendered":"Super fast fields for Delhi Half Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>New Delhi: <\/strong>Two time winners from Ethiopia, Deriba Merga and  Aselefech Megia will return to lay stake to the men\u2019s and women\u2019s titles  respectively in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, the seventh edition of  the world\u2019s most prestigious half marathon, which will be flagged off  from the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the capital city on November  27, 2011.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to Ian  Ladbrooke, a consultant for the elite athlete field and Tim Hutchings, a  renowned expert commentator on long distance events, the men\u2019s and  women\u2019s field that will take the starter\u2019s flag promises to be the best  and fastest yet, with a strong likelihood of new course records being  set.<\/p>\n<p>Deriba Merga, ranked No. 4 in the world and winner of titles  here in 2008 and 2009, also holds the course record of 59.15 minutes,  clocked in 2008, which, incidentally, is his personal best in this  distance. He leads a powerful field of fellow Ethiopians, Kenyans,  Tanzanians and Eritreans, of which nine have personal bests of sub-60.<\/p>\n<p>Merga  is in fine form this year, having beaten a world class field to win the  Ras Al-Khaima half marathon in February in a fast time of 59.25. He  will be well supported by team mates Tilahun Regassa and Lelisa Desisa,  who finished runner-up last year, losing out by a fraction to Kenyan  Geoffrey Mutai.<\/p>\n<p>In the absence of Mutai, The Kenyan challenge  will be spearheaded by the young and extremely talented Sammy Kitwara,  the fastest athlete in the men\u2019s field with a personal best of 58.48,  set in September this year. The other strong Kenyans in the field  include Stephen Kibiwott, with a personal best of 59.37, Philemon Limo,  Mark Kiptoo and Emmanuel Bett.<\/p>\n<p>Aselefech Mergia, the defending  champion, who won her first title here in 2008, will be returning to  lead another strong women\u2019s field, which includes fellow Ethiopians  Merima Mohammed, runner-up last year and former World half marathon  silver medalist Aberu Kebede. <\/p>\n<p>The Kenyan challenge will be led  by Lucy Wangui Kabuu,\u00a0 who is the fastest in the field this year with a  personal best of 67.06 and will be backed up strongly by Lydia Cheromei,  Doris Changeywo and the young Valentine Kipketer. Hungarian champion  Aniko Kalovic and Olga Dubrovskaya of Belarus will be looking to make a  dent in the Ethiopian and Kenyan domination.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Progression of winning times:<\/strong> The Delhi Half Marathon has seen a steady progression in the winning  times of the men and women, with Kenyan Philip Rugut winning the first  edition in 2005 in a timing of 61.54 minutes and Geoffrey Mutai stopping  the clock at 59.38 in 2010. In between was Merga\u2019s super fast timing of  59.15 set in 2008, which remains the course record.<\/p>\n<p>Among the  women, the first edition saw Russia\u2019s Irina Timofeyeca winning in  70.35, while Aselefech Mergia breasted the tape in 68. 35 in 2010. The  course record for the women stands in the name of Kenyan Mary Keitany,  who clocked an incredible 66.54 while winning in 2009.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>New Delhi: <\/strong>Two time winners from Ethiopia, Deriba Merga and  Aselefech Megia will return to lay stake to the men\u2019s and women\u2019s titles  respectively in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, the seventh edition of  the world\u2019s most prestigious half marathon, which will be flagged off  from the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the capital city on November  27, 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-athletics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Super fast fields for Delhi Half Marathon - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News &amp; 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