Enter, Eritrea!

TMM winners Berhane Tesfay and Merhawi Kesete (in white) with the Eritrea flag. Pic/Satej Shinde; (right) TMM women’s winner Joyce Chepkemoi Tele of Kenya Pic/Shadab Khan

The josh was high, but unfortunately so was the temperature on Sunday, January 19, as a top-class men's and women's field had it tough because of the heat and humidity at the Tata Mumbai Marathon.

Yet, though the TMM records did not tumble, the racing was edge-of-the-seat stuff. In the end, a little nation at the Horn of Africa, Eritrea, stamped itself on the city's marathon map making the 20th edition that much more special. Eritrean Berhane Tesfay won the men's race in 2:11:44 while his compatriot and training partner Merhawi Kesete finished second clocking 2: 11:50. Ethiopia's Tesfaye Demeke (2:11:56) was third.

Among the women's, Kenya's Joyce Chepkemoi Tele emerged fastest with a timing of 2:24:56, just 41 seconds slower than the course record.

Also Read: TATA Mumbai Marathon: Anish Thapa thunders to victory; suggests earlier start to beat the heat

In the men's category, one saw six men consistently running in one bunch that seemed extraordinary in the greater part of the race. These six included defending champion Ethiopia's Lemi Berhanu. Pacer Timoty Kibet from Kenya pulled the group across 27 km before withdrawing. After the 30 km mark, Kenyan Philemon Rono and Lemi exchanged the lead, making one think that these two are strategising and will go for broke at an opportune moment. Then though, one saw Ethiopian Tesfaye Demeke take the lead around the 39 km mark. This day though belonged to the men from the other E - Eritrea, and not the familiar Ethiopia to dominate as a turbo-charged Tesfay and Kesete went past Demeke, to claim the first two spots on the podium. The runners proudly flew their Eritrean flag at the finish line.

Tesfay's Paris failure

The commentator stated, "Tesfay was 64th at the Paris Olympics marathon, that was a bad day at the office. Here, he is way better."

Tesfay replied in the post-race media interaction: "The Paris course downhill was way too difficult, not a marathon course," as the media laughed.

The fact that Eritrea swept the top two positions was special for an Indian audience that is used to seeing Ethiopians and Kenyans on marathon podiums.

Joyce rejoices

Meanwhile, it was twice as nice for Tele (29) with her second straight marathon victory in three months. She won her maiden race at the Ljubljana City Marathon in Slovakia last October (2:20:17) before this. Though she couldn't better the event record of 2:24:15, which stands in the name of Ethiopian Anchialem Haymanot in 2023, she did a commendable job given the searing conditions. Shitaye Eshete (Bahrain) took silver (2:25:29), while Ethiopia's Medina Deme Armino, last year's Hong Kong marathon champion, claimed the bronze (2:27:58). The men's and women's winners took home USD 50,000 (R43 lakh) each.