MUMBAI, January 20: Surender Singh and Kavita Raut had to stave off challengers, throw in the final kick as they sprinted to the finish in the Half marathon. Surender clocked 1:05.43, 14 seconds ahead of Jutsi Utrianen of Finland.
Surender Singh, a 30-year-old Naik Subedar from the Gharwal Regiment of the Indian Army, had to battle with Jutsi throughout the 21 kms, before bolting to victory 100m from finish. "I was just aiming to win and was not too bothered to clock great timing," said Surender, a resident of Chamoli from Uttarakhand.
Jutsi, a year younger than Surender said the pace for the first 10k was boringly slow. "We crossed the 10k mark in 33 minutes but hit the speed buttons in the second half of the race," said Jutsi.
Santosh Kumar was just happy to win a top-three placing. "How much do we earn as Services athletes? Just Rs 4,000. I got to earn some money here. A good pair of shoe costs me a month’s salary, how do you expect me to eat and live," said Santosh.
Kavita Raut had an even closer finish than the men’s 21-kms event. A kick, 30 metres from the finish, helped her shake off training partner Preeja Shreedharan. She clocked 1:16.36 just two-hundredth of a second ahead of Preeja.
They had a contest going from start to finish. In fact, Preetil Rao, who finished third, nearly three minutes later, (1:19.26) are training partners. "This is not our event. We are preparing for the Asian Indian championships in Doha a week from now," said Kavita.
Half Marathon:
Men: 1. Surender Singh (Ind) 1:05.43 $1,1,50; 2. Jutsi Utrianen (Fin) 1:05.53 $850; 3. Santosh Kumar (Ind) 1:08.16 $600
Women: 1. Kavita Raut (Ind) 1:16.36 $1,1,50; 2. Preeja Sreedharan (Ind) 1:16.38 $850; 3. Preetil Rao (Ind) 1:19.26 $600