Kibiwott, Chepkirui win Delhi half marathon

Kenya's Francis Kibiwott and Lineth Chepkirui won the men's and women's titles in the Delhi Hutch half marathon on Sunday.

Kibiwott covered the distance of 21.097 kms in one hour, one minute and 36 seconds to create a new course record. He bettered the timing defending champions Philip Rugut posted last year by 18 seconds.

Cuthbert Nyasngo (1:02:30 secs) of Zimbabwe took second place while John J Korir (1:03:16) of Kenya was third.

Chepkirui claimed the women's honours with a timing of 1:10:40 seconds. Erkesso Teriba (1:11:22) of Ethiopia and Dire Tune (1:11:35) of Kenya clinched the second and third places respectively.

The defending men's and women's champions -- Philip Rugut of Kenya (1:03:33 seconds) and Irina Timofeyeva of Russia (1:12:11 seconds) -- finished fourth.

Ram Singh Yadav was the first Indian runner to cross the finish line in overall 18th place, clocking 1:06:52, and setting a new course record.

Among the Indian women, Pampa Chanda topped with the timings of 1:21:47 seconds, also establishing a new course record.

Kibiwott, who is returning after a one-year injury lay-off, shrugged off a slight knee niggle to pick the victor's purse of US $20,000.

The 28-year-old Kenyan broke away from the pack after the initial three or four kilometers and maintained a substantial lead from there on. He could have finished the race with a better timing but for the pain, which forced him to be cautious.

"I was feeling a slight niggle in the knee. Since I was coming from a injury break, I slowed down a bit," he told reporters.

The Kenyan, who won the races at Luxembourg and Amsterdam before coming here, was himself surprised with his success after the long lay-off.

"I am really surprised by the way I have performed after the injury. I was participating after almost a year bit still won at Amesterdam and Luxembourg," he said.

For 18-year-old Lineth, who pocketed US $15,000 from the event, the win is yet another big stride in announcing her arrival in top flight long distance running.

"I picked up my pace very well today. When I started I was behind others but then after 10 kilometer I caught them up," she said.

She, however, fell short of her personal best of 70.09 seconds achieved in Philadalphia.

Among the Indian runners, Ram Singh pushed veteran Bharav Singh Lone (1:07:11) to the second spot to be richer by US $2,500. P Nagendra Rao (1:07:25) finished third among the Indians.

In the women's section, the top three Indian runners were Pampa, Rina Das (1:23:16) and Laishram Devi (1:23:37).