Gemechu, Kipkorir start favourites

The elite 10K race, the premier event of the TCS World 10K run with some of the world’s best road runners in fray, has always been dominated by athletes from African nations.

While the first edition that was held in 2008 was won by Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea in the men’s section, Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey and Grace Momanyi of Kenya shared the gold in the women’s section. However, over the years, it has mostly been a battle between the Kenyans and the Ethiopians for the top-3 positions on the podium.

This year promises to be no different when the race flags off on Sunday morning from the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here. With 13 Kenyans and 16 Ethiopians in total competing in the men’s and the women’s categories respectively, all eyes will be on who among them will stop the clock at the earliest.

Also Read | Elite athletes target course record

The current course record stands at 27.38s set by Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli of Kenya in the men’s and 30.35s by Irene Cheptai, also of Kenya, in the women’s. Both the records were created in the last edition that is under threat this time around.

Headlining the Indian men’s challenge will be Murlikumar Tulsyabhai Gavit and Uttam Chand along with the likes of Pravin Khambal, Harmanjot Singh and Kiran Mathre. Olympians T Gopi and Nitendra Singh Rawat will be seen in action too.

Leading the charge for the Indian women athletes will be the troika of Preenu Yadav, Priti Lamba and Kavita Yadav.

The prize money for the winners is USD 26,000 and a bonus of USD 8,000 for the new record holder is a major attraction, something Stephen Kissa, one of the favourites to win the men’s race, did not shy away from accepting.

When asked about the reason behind running, Kissa had no qualms about the money part.

“I run for the money,” said the 34-year-old, who comes from the village of Sosho in Uganda.

The Indian elite line-up has a cash purse of Rs 2,75,000 each with a Rs 1,00,000 course record bonus.

If cash incentives, course record or the high of finishing top-3 at a competitive event are the motivating factors for the 98 professional runners in the elite race, for the rest of the 27,000 participants who make up the Open 10k, Majja run, Senior citizens' run and champions for disability sections, the reasons can be aplenty.

From someone it could be the thrill of running his/her first race. For another, adding one more to the list of many could give a high. And for others it may be testing one’s physical limitations or running for a cause.

As Sanya Richards-Ross, former 400M world champion and Olympic medallist, who is the international event ambassador earlier in the week said: “I’ve not done a 10K before, but I did my first 5K last year and I had the most amazing experience of my life. I think there is something special about running as a community and urging each other on.”

With rain in the city on Saturday evening, the temperatures are expected to be a tad bit cooler compared to the past few days, making for favourable conditions for the runners on a compact course around the Central Business District.