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Ethiopian athlete Yalemzerf Yehualaw races to the finish line to win the 2020 Airtel Delhi Women’s Half Marathon in New Delhi.
NEW DELHI: Elite runners ignored poor air quality and a surge in coronavirus cases on Sunday in the Indian capital for the Delhi Half Marathon, one of the country’s first major sporting events since the pandemic began.
Forty-seven professional runners covered the 21-kilometer course in the men’s and women’s event, while amateur participants ran between Wednesday and Sunday to avoid overcrowding.
The route was doused with chemicals to minimize the effect of Delhi’s annual toxic smog, which blankets the megacity in winter due to traffic and industrial pollution, burning crop stubble and low temperatures.
The air quality index, which monitors the tiny PM2.5 and PM10 particles entering the bloodstream and vital organs, was at 244 and in the “poor” category, the Central Pollution Control Board said on Sunday.
Doctors said last week that it would be “suicidal” for runners to enter the competition because of the twin risks.
Ethiopia’s Amdework Walelegn won the men’s race with a course record of 58.53 minutes with last year’s champion Andamlak Belihu just one second behind.
The previous best record was 59.06 set by Guye Adola of Ethiopia in 2014.
“The course was very good,” said Walelegn.
“In previous years there were a lot of U-turns, but this time it was flat and good for running.”
In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw won at 1.04.46, also a record, with Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich in second place.
Avinash Sable, who has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 3000m hurdles, was the best Indian finalist with a national record time of 1: 00.30.
