Champions Behranu, Minswevo set to tackle Mumbai Marathon
Ethiopian male champion and Kenya’s women’s race winner have trained under the sun in preparation for Mumbai’s heat
Mumbai: For elite athletes, training for the Tata Mumbai Marathon requires special plans. After all, the 42.135 km course in the city is unlike many venues, and is not the most ideal for fast timings.
A perfect course would be flat, and that would mean fast timings. But the Mumbai course has two gradients as the athletes run through the Malabar Hill area. There is the crosswind of the sea link that have to be tackled. But the most challenging aspect is the heat as the race progresses.
For that, Hayle Lemi Berhanu, the two-time defending champion from Ethiopia, moved to Akaki Kality, a district just south of capital Addis Ababa, to prepare for Sunday’s race.
“The weather there is warmer and not very different from Mumbai,” said the 30-year-old runner, who is aiming to become the first person to win three consecutive Mumbai Marathons, at a pre-race press conference.
“It also helps that I know the course very well. I have prepared for that and I have been waiting for a long time for this event. I want to make it three wins in a row.”
Berhanu comes with an impressive record in marathon running. Of his 24 career marathons, he has won 11, three of which came last year alone – in Mumbai, Prague and Beijing.
His first appearance in Mumbai, in 2023, saw him break the course record when he clocked 2 hours 07 minutes 32 seconds. Last year he won the race clocking 2:07:50. This year, he’s hoping to do better.
His key challenger again is the man he beat last year, Kenya’s Philemon Rono. Like Berhanu, Rono too has altered his training regimen to prepare for Mumbai, at his base in Kenya’s Rift Valley region that is famous for its distance runners.
“I would generally train early morning at my base in Iten,” he said. “But in the last month I’ve started training at around 10 AM to 1 PM to acclimatise to the sun.”
One runner who does not have a problem running under the sun is the defending women’s champion Abersh Minsewo.
The Ethiopian, in her first-ever marathon, clinched the title in Mumbai, clocking 2:26:01, her personal best.
“I like the heat,” she said ahead of the race.
The 23-year-old, who won the women’s 3000m at the 2017 U-18 World Championships, is trying to push herself further in the marathon.
Defending Indian champions return
Both the men’s and women’s defending champions among Indians have returned.
Srinu Bugatha clocked 2:17:29 last year to win the title for the first time, while Nirmaben Thakor Bharatjee took the women’s crown with a time of 2:47:11.
With qualification for the 2025 World Championships in mind, all the runners will be looking to push themselves to earn a spot in the prestigious event scheduled in Tokyo in September.
The entry standards specify that men will have to clock 2:06:30 and women 2:23:30 to qualify on time. India’s national records are 2:12:00 and 2:34:43 respectively.