Ethiopians Rule Over Hyderabad 10K Run

Making a clean sweep, Mosinet Geremew and Yebrgual Melese, both Ethiopians, won the men's and women's overall titles respectively in the 2012 edition of the Hyderabad 10K Run at People's Plaza here on Sunday.

Two events marked the day; the 10 km Run open to those above 15 years of age, and the 7 km Mazza Run open to those over 12 years of age. The 10K Run was run in the overall category, the Indian category, the veteran category, the senior veteran category and super veteran category.

Olympian Sudha Singh ran her personal best time of 35 minutes and 18 seconds to win the Indian women's title and finish third overall, while Rattiram Saini emerged fastest among the Indian men, clocking 30.16 and finishing 8th overall. Sudha scored her second consecutive win over arch- rival Kavita Raut, that too by a considerable margin this time, Kavita coming home in 36.01 and Monika Athrey taking third place in 37.21.

The Indian men's race was closer, with Rattiram followed by G Laxmanan in 30.30 and Nitendra Singh Rawat in 30.54.

Geremew, the fastest male athlete in the elite field lived up to the stature, as the 20-year-old clocked his personal best time of 27 minutes and 36 seconds beating Kenyan Nicholas Kipkemboi, who fell short in the final sprint to finish a second behind in 27.37. The Third place went to Ugandan Jackson Kiprop, who stopped the clock at 28.16. Yebrgual Melese, who had a 4th place finish in the Delhi Half-Marathon in September last was pushed all the way by Kenyan Beatrice Mutai, but pulled ahead in the last kilometer to win at 33.21. Beatrice followed home in 33.36, with Sudha securing third place in 35.18.

Geremew and Melese each bagged Rs 1.5 lakh by winning in the men's and women's categories, respectively. More than 8,500 participants took the starter's flag at the People's Plaza, with 2,500 running in the 10km run and 6,000 in the Mazza Run.

The run was flagged off at the Pearl Plaza at 6.40am by City Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma and Assembly speaker N Manohar. The event saw the participation of people from all walks of life. Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi, tennis star Sania Mirza and badminton coach Pullela Gopichand were among those who participated in the event. (INN)