Mumbai Marathon lives up to city's excitement

It's early morning. There are shiny lights going in sync with the sparkling blue carpet on the starting line. There are not many people around. It was, as they say, the calm before the storm.

Despite the slight chill, the runners were all set to sweat it out in the 14th edition of the prestigious Mumbai Marathon here on Sunday.

And, the race lived up to the excitement, with Alphonce Simbu and Bornes Kitur emerging the winners in the elite men's and women's full marathon, respectively.

Simbu, who belongs to Singida region in Tanzania, overcame a stiff challenge from the second-placed Joshua Kipkorir of Kenya en route to the biggest title of his career. Simbu completed the full marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres first with a timing of 02:09.32. Kipkorir came second clocking 02:09.50.

Meanwhile, having settled for a runner-up finish last year, Kenya's Kitur made sure she went an extra mile this time around as she triumphed in the elite women's event. Kitur led the bunch throughout, and only extended her lead to eventually finish the distance in 02:29.02.

Like every year, the organisers didn't leave any stone unturned to look after the participants. With 1.40 lakh litres of bottled water across 27 stations, 12 medical stations, 11 ambulances and as many as 500 doctors on duty, there were hardly any major injuries among the runners.

That athletes are attracted to the city's premier marathon was shown by Ladakh's Anuradha Singh, who finished third in the women's half marathon. She missed her plane to Mumbai but decided to board another flight to ensure that she competed at the event.

David Rudisha, a two-time Olympic champion and international event ambassador of the Mumbai Marathon, was also infatuated with India.

"It's fantastic (being here in India)," he said. "This is just my second trip to India. And now I have also brought a kurta from here as well."