On Friday, when the little known Kenyan athlete Titus Mbieshei landed in India for the Sunfeast World 10K Run, he came with a single-minded mission of triumph. For him it was not about participation, it was about winning and the prize money meant a lot to him. It would provide a better living for his extended family of 16.

There was no form book to back him and he wasn’t weighed down by expectations. Sporting a bright orange vest he stood out among the participants and within minutes he made his intentions clear and remained in the leader group throughout the 10km stretch. He went for the kill in the final kilometre and breasted the tape in 27.54 minutes, three seconds outside the course record of 27.51 minutes.
The 20-year-old left the fancied runners way behind with Uganda’s Moses Kipsiro finishing second and Mbieshei’s countryman Feyisa Lelisa coming in third.
In the women’s race too, the pre-event favourites were left to play the role of bridesmaids as unheralded Ethiopian Yimer Wude outpaced holder Aselefech Mergia and Grace Momanyi.

AFI threat keeps cream of Indian athletes away
It was probably the last minute jitters and the fear against a possible ban that saw the Indian challenge in the Sunfeast World 10K Run wear a depleted look. The previous years’ winners Kashinath Aswale and Sandeep Kumar, despite registering their entries, failed to show up at the starting line.
In the absence of several well-known faces, Haryana’s Sunil Kumar ran the best time by an Indian male athlete to finish in 30.47 minutes. On expected lines, 2008 champion Preeti L. Rao regained the women’s title with a 37.37 minute finish.

Mbieshei, who burst onto the international scene earlier this year, jogged out of the Sree Kanteerava Stadium with Deriba Mergia, Titus Masai, Edwin Kipkorir and Mo El Haohimi for company. Crossing the 3km mark in 8.2 minutes, the pack stayed together with Tola joining the party. But Tola did not last long as he dropped out of the leader group a kilometre later and Kiopsiro took his place.
As the race progressed, Mbieshei grew in confidence and started to push himself into the lead, with just four runners in front. After the 7km mark, Merga fell back leaving Kipsirp and Lelisa to do the catching up. Mbieshei picked up pace in the stretch between the 8 and 9kms and by the time he entered the stadium, he was on his own leaving the duo behind him to fight it for the other two podium places.
Mbieshei was elated after the victory. Born in a family of 14 siblings and leading a hand-to-mouth existence, the prize, he said would go a long way in helping his family.
“It was a very nice course and I’m happy I won the event. The competition was tough and I had to push myself. The prize money will be of great help for my family which has a small patch of land to make a living from. I plan to buy land with the money and also spend some on my friends back home who train very hard.”
Yimer, on the other hand, was behind the leader group for a better part of the race and accelerated between the 4th and 5th-km mark. Momanyi, the 2008 joint winner started to fall back after the 7 km mark while Mergia was in contention until the threesome entered the stadium. Some 50 metres before entering the track, Yimer was lying third but she shifted gears to surge into the lead before going on to win the booty.

Results:
Overall:
Elite Men: Titus Mbieshei (Ken) 27:54; Moses Kipsiro (UGA) 28:08; Feyisa Lelisa (KEN) 28:23; Deriba Merga (ETH)28:32; Edwin Kipkorir (KEN) 28:35; Titus Masai (KEN) 28:44; Tadese Tola (ETH) 28:49; Eshetu Wendimu (ETH) 28:50; Geoffrey Kusuro (UGA) 28:52; Henry Chirhir (28:56) KEN
Elite Women: Yimer Wude (ETH) 31:58; Aselefech Mergia (ETH) 32:00; Grace Momanyi (KEN) 32:05; Koren Yal (ETH) 32:17; Aberu Kebede (ETH) 32:21; Hilda Kibet (NED) 32:22; Genet Genteneh (ETH) 32:23; Dire Tune (ETH) 32:29; Gladys Chemweno (KEN) 32:49; Tigist Tufa (ETH) 32:50

AFI threat keeps cream of Indian athletes away from roads
Sunil, Preeti emerge Indian champs

It was probably the last minute jitters and the fear against a possible ban that saw the Indian challenge in the Sunfeast World 10K Run wear a depleted look. The previous years’ winners Kashinath Aswale and Sandeep Kumar, despite registering their entries, failed to show up at the starting line.
In the absence of several well-known faces, Haryana’s Sunil Kumar ran the best time by an Indian male athlete to finish in 30.47 minutes. On expected lines, 2008 champion Preeti L. Rao regained the women’s title with a 37.37 minute finish.
With the Athletics Federation of India banning athletes from participating in the event, the sweat and sacrifice of the rebellious paid off as the winners took home a cheque of Rs 1.5 lakh each. Both Sunil and Preeti finished 21st overall.
In the men’s category, Arvind Kumar Yadav and Santosh Kumar finished behind Sunil, while M. Sudha and Kamlesh Baghel took the second and third positions respectively in the women’s section.
In the men’s category, it was a tight race as Sunil and Arvind made it a photo-finish with the difference being 1/100th of a second.
For Santosh Kumar, who has been ousted from the National camp, it was a good race considering this was his first competition after recovering from a stab injury sustained last year.
For Santosh’s new bride and local lass Preeti, it was a cakewalk in the absence of last year’s champion Kavita Raut.
Preeti, who married Santhosh two months ago, said she was hardly challenged in the race.
The athletes also used this platform to lash out at the AFI for its high-handedness.