Hope floats by the seaside

Mulu SEBOKA was misguided the last time she visited Mumbai. On her second visit, she had no such problems and she coolly ran away with $20,000 in her kitty. The 21-year-old Ethiopian justified the faith shown by her coaches back home — she is is said to be world champion material —to emerge the winner of the second Mumbai Marathon on Sunday.

‘‘I was sent the wrong way last time,’’ she said, recalling the ordeal during the inaugural edition. It messed her trip as she had to settle on the 14th spot (3 hrs 01 min 59 secs). ‘‘I was keen to return and make amends for it.’’ And she did it with striking strides to clock 2:35.03 secs to bag the honours in the women’s section.

A new route and improved facilities were other allies that fuelled her cause. She paced her 42-km run on the Mumbai roads with precision and climaxed it with a final burst that saw her finish a minute ahead of her closest rival and countrymate Leila Aman. ‘‘Mulu means full,’’ she says with girlish innocence while speaking through an interpreter. ‘‘I’m still studying to complete my high school,’’ says the Addis Ababa native, who aspires to be the world’s best.

‘‘I didn’t run for the money here. I want to be remembered as an Olympic and world champion,’’ she says emphatically. The Mumbai Marathon could be her launchpad for greater deeds.