Participants from Ethiopia stole the show at the 36th Pune International Marathon as they occupied the top three positions in the men’s category and the first position in the women’s category at the event that concluded in the early hours of Sunday at the Baburao Sanas Sports Ground.
The event was flagged off by Feroze Ahmed Khan, Chairman of Sarhad Kargil International Marathon and Chief Executive Councillor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council of Kargil, at midnight on Saturday.
“The full marathon and the half marathon saw a participation of 2,500 runners. Meanwhile, the other events of 10km, 5km, 3km and the wheelchair race events saw about 7,000 participants. All in all, about 10,000 runners participated in the marathon. The runners were given security with the help of deployed police personnel as several locals cheered the participants,” said Abhay Chhajed, Trustee of Pune International Marathon Trust (PIMT).
The 42.195-km full marathon for men and women made two trips of the route covering Sanas ground-Sarasbaug-Sinhagad road and the circle at Nanded city. The half marathon made one trip of the same route.
Ethiopian contestants Leta Tesfaye Guteta, Urga Kebube and Yibegata Zengeta clinched the top three positions in the full marathon for men. Ethiopian runner Derartu Eshetu Kebede bagged the first position while Jyoti Gawate and Disket Dolma secured the second and the third place respectively in the full marathon for women.
Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan, MLAs Nana Patole and Sunil Kamble, former MLA Ramesh Bagwe, Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) city president Prashant Jagtap and Pune police commissioner Amitabh Gupta were among the dignitaries present at the event.
