With conducive weather and the two pacemakers from Kenya — a novelty introduced for the first time— in place, the runners were at home with the top-three finishing in record-breaking time in the fourth edition of the Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday.

Defending champion Dieudonne Disi of Rwanda felt the heat on a chilly morning and had to ultimately give up his title to Ethiopian Deriba Merga, who clocked 59.15 for the crown and a new record. Thanks to the pacemakers, the Kenyan duo of Wilson Kipsang and Wilson Chebet too broke the 60-minute barrier to come second and third at 59.16 and 59.34, respectively. In the process, Deriba eclipsed the previous best timing of 60.43 minutes by Disi and bagged $25,000 prize money. The Kenyans got $15,000 and $10,000.

In the women’s section, Ethiopian Aselefech Mergia emerged as the winner, registering a personal best of 68: 17 minutes to take home a prize money of $25,000, while compatriot Genet Getenet (68:18) finished second and Kenyan Peninah Arusei (68:20) finished third.

Indian challenge

As for the Indians, Sandeep Kumar clocked 64:53, eclipsing last year’s winner Ram Singh Yadav’s timing of 66:09 minutes to win $4,000. Kashinath and Deep Chand clocked 64:58 and 65 minutes respectively.

In the women’s section, defending champion Kavita Raut produced a staggering performance — coming off after an injury — to retain her title, registering a personal best of 77:12 minutes. Preethi L Rao (77: 20) and Sudha Singh (77:39) finished second and third to pocket $3,000 and $2,000 respectively.

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