Showers fail to dampen Durga surge

It was a dominating performance from Durga, who drove on the early pace set by the under-21 boys, running the half-marathon, to take a big lead. So large it was that the man chasing him — Appasaheb Desai of BSF, Delhi — was over three minutes behind him.

Durga took his time to break out. Approaching Lokmanya Nagar (10 kms), a rapidly developing township, the grain began to separate from the chaff. By the time the athletes reached Vasant Vihar (15 km), a colony of high-rises and arcades, a pack of five had wrested the initiative, with Durga at the helm.

Meanwhile,the battle for supremacy in the U-21 had truly begun. Byt the time the boys ran past the overhanging trees on a downslope at Ghodbunder Road, Bhuswal had taken a good lead and won. He was followed by Kisan Kumar and Mohan Singh of Kumaon Regiment.

At that half-way mark, Godhbunder Road (21 kms), Durga had taken a sizeable lead, with Appasaheb and Ramkaran Yadav of CRPF, Delhi in pursuit. At the Thane Check Naka (28 kms), an uphill sweeping to the right, Durga had built a lead of nearly 140 seconds. Appasaheb and Sumer Rathod followed him, but along came Mahesh Singh, inquiring how many were ahead of them.

As the athletes came into Kalwa and ran parallel to the railway tracks headed towards Thane, Mahesh had passed Rathod and was breathing down Appasaheb’s neck. As they came into Thane, Mahesh was “looking out for the leader.” But Durga had already won.

In the women’s section, it was a one-two for Nagpur girls as Sarita Marbate of Winners Club and Vidya Deoghare of South-East Railway won the title. ForSarita, it was her second successive victory. Coming in third was Sharada Gawande of Ahmednagar, who works for Central Railway, Mumbai.

RESULTS

Men (42 kms, 365 yards): 1. Durga Oraon (CRPF, Delhi) 2:20.53; 2. Mahesh Singh (Services, UP) 2:23.37; 3. Appasaheb Desai (BSF, Delhi) 2:24.59.Under-21 (21 kms): 1. Ganpati Bhuswal (Western Railway) 1:09.15; 2. Kisan Kumar (Kumaon Regiment) 1:09.32; 3. Mohan Singh (Kumaon Regiment) 1:10.47.

Women (21 kms): 1. Sarita Marbate (Nagpur) 1:23.06; 2. Vidya Deoghare (SE Rly) 1:23.38; 3. Sharada Gawande (CR) 1:23.45.

THE KILLER MARATHON

From the scheduled 2.00 pm start, it rained profusely and by the time the Marathon started at 3.00 pm, it had not abated. Never in the 10-year history of the Thane Marathon had the rain been so heavy. The rain must have acted as a curtain cutting the air-supply to the athletes. It stayed a faithful companion to the runners, and beat down heavily at the finish.

If the rains drove away the heat factor, then it provideda different difficulty. Mahesh Singh, the runner-up, complained of having to run with a heavy shoe. And for athletes running barefoot it was excruciatingly painful.

The gravel that laced the pot-hole ridden roads caused more than a few painful strides. Satyabhama, the winner of the women’s title last year, suffered a few cuts. She did not finish among the top three.

Adding to the rain and the footwear problems were the succession of uphill and downhill sections on the course. If one uphill close to finish in the ’98 Atlanta Olympic Marathon caused the press in US to name it the `Killer Climb’, by the same accord, the entire Thane Marathon should be named `Killer Marathon.’