It was a familiar story at the Idea Chennai Half Marathon 2009, with Kenyans dominating both the mens and womens divisions. John Wembusa, ranked 42nd in the world, won the mens event while Nelly Jepkurui (ranked 15th) won the womens event.
As per the organizers, about 60,000-70,000 runners took part in the various races on the day, but then, we can always take these statements with a pinch of salt. Rain played a bit of a spoil-sport when it came pouring in between. International marathon runners from Kenya, USA, Singapore and Malaysia also took part in the race.
Event website: www.givelife-chennaimarathon.com
For a change, the arrangements on the race day were reasonably okay as per the local running community members of the Chennai Runners group. Some photos of the event can be seen on picasaweb here. Complete timing results for the event awaited.
Results summary:
International Men:
1. John Wembusa,
2. Daniel Cherviyout,
3. Tewodros Shiferaw.
International Women:
1. Nelly Jepkurui,
2. Rose Kosgei,
3. Ayelu Lamma.
National Men:
1. Deepchand Saharan,
2. Arvind Kumar,
3.Ajay Kumar.
National Women:
1. Panpa Chanda,
2. Sukanya Mall,
3. Rameshwari.