Mumbai Marathon: Berhane Tesfay and Joyce Chepkemoi Tele Claim Titles

Mumbai, Jan 19 (NationPress) New champions have emerged in the 20th edition of the Mumbai Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, with Eritrean Berhane Tesfay and Kenyan Joyce Chepkemoi Tele winning the men's and women's categories, respectively. The top three finishers received prize money of USD 50,000, USD 25,000, and USD 15,000 respectively.

The winners celebrated their victories for two main reasons: Tesfay achieved his first-ever marathon win, while Tele secured her second consecutive victory within three months.

Throughout most of the race, six men, including defending champion Lemi Berhanu, ran closely together. Pacer Timoty Kibet from Kenya led them until the 27 km mark before stepping aside. After 30K, Kenyan Philemon Rono and Lemi exchanged leads briefly. Realizing that the event record was slipping away after 35K, the runners focused solely on securing top positions.

Ethiopian Tesfaye Demeke, who finished ninth in the 2020 edition, took the lead with just 3 km remaining. Other runners pursued him, as both Rono and Lemi began to show signs of fatigue. Eritreans Berhane and Merhawi Kesete increased their pace and surged ahead of Demeke in the final moments of the race.

Berhane Tesfay crossed the finish line first in 2:11:44, with teammate Kesete finishing second just six seconds later. Demeke rounded out the podium in 2:11:56.

Lemi, who had back-to-back victories in 2023-2024, finished sixth in a time of 2:14:54 and was unable to achieve a hat trick similar to Kenyan John Kelai, who won in 2007-2008 and placed third in 2009.

In a post-race interview, Tesfay expressed, "I’m pleased to have won today. The initial half of the race was smooth, and I focused on maintaining a steady pace. After 25K, my strategy shifted to ensuring the win rather than focusing on time. This victory is significant for me and reflects the dedication and training that led to this moment."

Kenyan Joyce Chepkemoi Tele (29) achieved her second consecutive marathon victory in three months. After winning her first race at the Ljubljana City Marathon in Slovenia last October with a time of 2:20:17, expectations were high for her to surpass the event record of 2:24:15, held by Anchialem Haymanot since 2023.

With defending champion Aberash Minsewo from Ethiopia and pre-race favorite Shitaye Eshete (Bahrain) also competing for the top prize, the women were anticipated to aim for a course record bonus.

However, Tele was left to challenge herself as Eshete and others fell behind at 27K, forcing the Kenyan to run a solo race. Supported by a pacer during the latter half, Tele completed the marathon in 2:24:56, about 41 seconds shy of the record.

Eshete secured the silver medal with a time of 2:25:29, while Ethiopia's Medina Deme Armino, last year's champion of the Hong Kong marathon, claimed bronze in 2:27:58.

Tele became the third Kenyan woman to win in Mumbai, joining the ranks of Valentine Kipketer (2013) and Bornus Kitur (2017).

"I came here solely to win and didn’t focus on breaking any records," Tele stated during the post-event press conference.

Eshete expressed satisfaction with her performance and showed interest in returning for better results.

Anish Thapa claimed his inaugural Tata Mumbai Marathon Indian men's title in this landmark 20th edition, while Thakor Nirmaben retained her Indian Elite women's crown.

Thapa finished in 2:17:23, edging out Asian marathon champion and teammate Man Singh by 14 seconds in a thrilling finish. This also placed Anish 7th in the overall Elite Runners’ standings, followed closely by Man Singh in 8th.

Olympian and former champion Gopi T, also from the Army, secured third place, over two minutes behind the winner. Kalidas Hirave from Maharashtra took fourth, while last year’s winner Srinu Bugatha of the Army finished fifth in 2:20:43.

This was Thapa’s first podium finish in this event, having previously ranked 14th overall in 2:22:00 during the 2023 edition.

“My strategy was to maintain a strong core and start steadily, despite the humid conditions,” Thapa remarked. “The true effort came after the 30–35 km mark, and adhering to my plan made all the difference. I’m extremely pleased with how it all turned out,” he added.

In the women’s marathon, Nirmaben won for the second consecutive year with a time of 2:50:06, finishing 49 seconds ahead of Sonika Parmar.

“Although my performance this year wasn't as strong as last year's, which remains my personal best, the experience was equally rewarding,” Nirmaben stated.

“I started at my usual pace and stayed with the pack for the first 12 km before we began to split. After 21 km, I gradually started to overtake others, and by the 36 km mark, I had taken the lead. Even when I faced challenges with my shoes around 38 km, my determination and faith in God kept me going,” she added.

The top three finishers in the Indian Elite men’s and women’s categories received prize money of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4 lakh, and Rs 3 lakh respectively, from a total prize fund of USD 3,90,238.

Sawan Barwal and Stanzin Dolkar claimed victory in the half marathon for the men’s and women’s categories, respectively, with Barwal setting a meet record of 1:04:37.

“Although my start was a bit slow, I pushed myself after the 12 km mark, and I’m excited about the achievement. My focus is now on the upcoming Nationals in a few weeks,” Barwal concluded.