Sabastian Sawe and Tsehay Gemechu win titles at the TCS World 10K Marathon

Kenyan runners Sabastian Sawe and Tsehay Gemechu won the respective titles in men’s and women’s marathon at the TCS World 10K marathon in Bengaluru while others ran for a greater cause.

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe and Tsehay Gemechu stole the show at the Tata Consultancy Services World 10K marathon in Bengaluru on Sunday. Both of them battled heat, humidity, as well as rainy conditions to take home the international men’s and women’s titles in the marathon.

In the men’s category, Sawe beat competition from Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera and Kenya’s Hillary Chepkwoni to win in 27:58.24s. What helped him cross the finish line first was finding an extra burst of energy in the final 500m of the race as the pack of leaders entered the final stretch of the race at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

Sawe, who clocked the world’s fifth fastest 10K time in Germany last month, crossed the finish line milliseconds ahead of his rivals.

“I surprised myself with the energy I had in the last 500 metres,” Sawe said.

Nicholas Kipkorir, who was the defending champion this time around, managed to finish fourth. However, his course record in Bengaluru remained safe and in fact, no records were broken during the day.

The women’s category was dominated by Ethiopian athletes who claimed all of the top three positions. Tsehay Gemechu left the rest of the competitors much behind and she made her way into the stadium to take home the big prize.

The 2023 TCS World 10K marathon proved to be a moment of redemption for Tsehay who had made a costly error here in 2019. She was also on course to win the gold medal that time around, but mistook the placement of the finish line and ended sixth.

Tsehay, a two-time Delhi Marathon champion, stated that she benefitted greatly from interacting with Ethiopian long-distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie. “Haile is my hero, and his tips were invaluable,” Tsehay said.

Both Sawe and Tsehay collected prizes worth $26,000 each.

Among Indian runners, Murli Gavit as well as Tamshi Singh posted the best timings. 19-year-old Tamshi proved to be too good for the rest of the Indian field and was alone for the majority of the route.

“This is the first time I’m competing in a 10K run,” she said.

Gavit then changed gears in the last stretch to finish ahead of Harmanjot Singh and Uttam Chand. Both of them won ₹2,75,000 each.

Besides the competitors who ran for medals and cash rewards, there were several athletes who also ran for a greater cause. One of the highlights of the day was the Champions with Disability (CWD) run, which saw around 600 participants.

The Senior Citizen Run witnessed nearly 1,100 enthusiastic participants. Shashanka Roy Choudhury, a retired bank manager, and his wife, Nivedita Roy Choudhury, were among them. “I regularly walk around 6,000 to 7,000 steps - that’s how I prepared myself for this event,” Mr. Choudhury said.

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