The second international marathon saw a close finish

NAGPUR: But finishing the 42-km race a fraction earlier than his buddy Oswald Reverian Kaharuzi on Sunday earned Patrick Nhyangero Lusato, a 26-year-old Tanzanian athlete, the crown and cash.

The 2nd international marathon – christened ‘Mahatma Gandhi Ahimsa Daud’ – that turned the orange city into a sea of yellow-apparel-clad runners witnessed a nail-biting photo finish between the two friends who train together in Tanzania, but say, they are professional competitors on the global stage.

“I lost because he’s my buddy,” a smiling Oswald said, poking Patrick, after the awards function at Yeshwant stadium. The two came from nowhere after the 35-km-stretch to pip the fellow-runners from Kenya and Ethiopia who began as the favourites but finished behind the Tanzanians. “The weather conditions,” Patrick said, “suited me well – the conditions here are the same we train in back home.”

Patrick clocked two hours thirteen minutes and six seconds, just a fraction less than Oswald to cover 42 km route that included hilly terrain. The two pushed their Kenyan counterpart, Benson Kipkosgei Yator to the third spot by over 45- seconds-margin. They said it was so far their best performance.

Kenyan Hellen Nzembi Musyoka finished first in the women’s half marathon (21 km), clocking an impressive 1:11:27, much ahead of Tanzanian Restituta Joseph Kemi and Dehninet Demsew Jara on the second and third spot, respectively. “The arrangements,” Hellen said, “were the best.”

Patrick, who runs a shop in Tanzania, won Rs 2.5 lakh in cash, a bounty that he alike the other winners would share with his home club and teammates. The African long distance gave a glimpse of why they are unbeatable.

“We train and compete hard,” said the Kenyan coach, Paul Tuikong. A former Olympian athlete, who is also training runners at the Army Sports Institute Pune, Tuikong says his country, like Ethiopia and Tanzania, is among the poorest in the world. “But we are on the top in sports, particularly athletics,” he says.

“Running is a passion in Kenya,” says Paul Mutisya Mutwii, 60, vice president of the Kenyan Athletics Federation. “We tap the talents from the primary schools.”

“Athletics,” Mutwii said, “is an earning source for many youngsters in Kenya.” The government supports the federation that in turn backs the runners. He says his country’s athletes would continue to dominate the world athletic events.

The African athletes preferred to run here than in Mumbai or Pune marathon because of the conditions, said Prahlad Sawant, vice president of the Indian Amateur Athletics Federation. About 50 of them came from the African countries in the run up to commonwealth games.

Thousands of young and old Nagpurians ran in the marathon, a brainchild of Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar. But it was a day when Nagpur saw the Kenyans, the Ethiopians and the Tanzanians, run with a lot of heart – their dedication, grit and stamina on full display.

Kavita Raut, a tribal runner from Nashik, Sudha Singh, and local Rohini Raut took the women’s mantle from India, while the long distance runners Satya Prakash, Jaybhay B B and Brijlal Bijlal were first three in India men’s category.
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