Alex Matata, Lilian Kasait Rengeruk win Delhi Half Marathon

Kenyan long-distance runners Alex Matata and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk won the men’s and women’s elite races respectively at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday.

Matata, who had finished second here last year, ran a tactical race, clocking 59.50 seconds to finish ahead of Boyelign Teshager (1:00:22 seconds) and James Kipkogei (1:00:25 seconds).

Rengeruk, on the other hand, clocked 1:07.20 seconds to claim the women’s title. The Ethiopian duo of Melal Siyoum Biratu (1:07:21 seconds) and Mulat Tekle (1:07:29 seconds) finished second and third respectively.

Abhishek Pal and Seema were the fastest in the Indian men’s and women’s elite category, clocking 1:04:17 seconds and 1:11:23 seconds respectively as the warm and humid conditions made it tough for the runners.

The Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, which is into its 20^th edition, is a World Athletics Gold Label road race event. It has a prize purse of USD 260,000 and was flagged off from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.