Half marathon, full throttle

Ethiopia's Deriba Merga won the men's race with a new course record of 59.14 minutes, while his compatriot Aselefech Mergia became the women's champion of the fourth Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday.
Deriba clocked 59:14 minutes, his fastest effort this season, to eclipse last year's champion Rwanda's Dieudonne Disi's timing of 60.43 minutes, while Aselefech timed 68:16 minutes to pocket a prize money of USD 25,000 each. Among the Indians, Sandeep Kumar emerged as the winner in the men's category, clocking 64:48 minutes, while defending champion Kavitha Raut retained her title clocking 77:12 minutes. They will be richer by USD 4,000. Kenyans also had a good day with Wilson Kipsang and Wilson Chebet finishing second and third respectively in the men's category to bag USD 15,000 and USD 10,000 respectively

In the women's section, Ethiopian Genet Getenet finished second, while Kenyan Peninah Arusei came third. Kashinath and Deep Chand clocked 64:52 and 64:56 to finish second and third in the men's section of Indian runners, while Preethi L Rao and Sudha Singh finished second and third, clocking 77: 20 and 77:39 minutes in the women's section to bag USD 3,000 and USD 2,000 respectively.

The numerous diversions set up for these big events only added to the chaos. Several main roads were closed which led to heavy traffic volumes on one route around India Gate. It took nearly two hours to commute from Chittaranjan Park to India Gate while other places in south Delhi too reported traffic snarls. Officials said at least 112 calls were received by the Delhi traffic police helpline through the day. Traffic was particularly slow in Mehrauli area and Nizamuddin. The south Delhi stretch of the Ring Road remained clogged since afternoon. "It took me nearly two-and-a-half hours from Saket to reach India Gate. The traffic was particularly bad from Sunder Nagar to India Gate. Traffic remained virtually standstill on this stretch for nearly half an hour," said Amit Bharti, a resident of Noida. In the evening, weddings took over. Sunday was considered very auspicious for marriage since Lord Vishnu is said to have woken up on this day after four months and married Tulsi. An estimated 18,000 weddings were solemnized on Sunday. "It took nearly an hour to travel from Janakpuri to Vikaspuri, a distance of just a few kilometres," said a resident of Vikaspuri. Amit Sharma, a resident of Panchsheel in south Delhi, said, "I have to attend a wedding at a farmhouse in Narela. Looking at the traffic reports, I left my house a good two hours in advance to reach on time."