Despite suffering from cramps in her abdominal region, Dinknesh Mekash of Ethiopia defended her Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon elite women's title clocking 2:30:00 yesterday
Dinknesh Mekash vomits after crossing the finish line
Despite suffering from cramps in her abdominal region, Dinknesh Mekash of Ethiopia defended her Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon elite women's title clocking 2:30:00 yesterday.
Dinknesh Mekash vomits after crossing the finish line. Pic/Atul Kamble
Running her debut marathon, Ethiopian teenager Kumeshi Sichala finished second with a timing of 2:30:56, while compatriot Marta Megra's timing of 2:31:45 was good enough to take her to the third place.
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Mekash led from the start and left the rest of the field behind at the halfway mark. But her 2:30:00 was eventually slower than her earlier timing of 2:28:08 (achieved last year in Mumbai) and 2:28:46 that she had clocked in 2013.
Mekash's personal best is 2:25:09 which she clocked in Paris in 2013. Ethiopians dominated the women's category as seven of the top-10 finishers were from the African country.
Mekash said that if not for her back and ankle pain, she could have achieved a better timing. "I got a good start and it was my target to better my timing. But after the 35-km mark, I had acute pain in my back and ankle. I also had cramps in my abdominal region (and) that's when I decided to slow down a bit.
"Since I had crossed the 35km-mark, I didn't want to pull out, so I somehow finished the race. I am happy I completed the race and defended my title," said the 30-year-old, who vomited and complained of nausea at the finish line.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Kumeshi said that she was glad finish second behind Mekash. "I used to run half marathons and my personal best timing is 1:10:15. This being my first full marathon, I couldn't match the pace of Mekash. After she took a lead, I ran on my own pace." she said.
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