Kelai makes it two in a row; Mulu wins third women's title

Mumbai, Jan 20 (UNI) Defending champion John Kelai of Kenya ran a perfect race to win the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon here today.

The 31-year-old proved a class above the rest of the field to cover the gruelling 42-km course in two hours, 12 minutes and 03 seconds, an improvement on last year's effort of two hours, 12 minutes and 27 seconds. The victory made him richer by USD 31,000.

In the women's section, Ethiopia's Mulu Seboka completed a hat-trick of Mumbai marathon titles after her 2005 and '06 victories, winning the event in a personal best timing of two hours, 30 minutes and three seconds. Seboka also received a prize money of USD 31,000.

Ramsingh Yadav emerged the fastest Indian runner. The 27-year-old, finished in two hours, 18 minutes and 22 seconds, the best ever time recorded by a home runner.

The Indian women's winner was Devi Pashotlemia who completed the race in a time of three hours, two minutes and 28.06 seconds.

Both the top Indians in the men and women's section got USD 2,250 as prize money.

Around 33,000 runners, including celebrities, corporate executives, students and housewives, joined in the fifth annual run, which included the 42-km full marathon, 21-km half-marathon, senior citizensrun, wheel chair event and a six-km 'dream run'.

UNI GS DB CS KP1331