by NR INDRAN / INT

Defending champions among the Indian men and women, Irappa D Akki and Lalita Babbar, respectively, will return to spearhead the National challenge in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon to be run on November 27, 2011.

The world’s most prestigious half marathon will see participation from 54 male and 29 women athletes from India who will be a part of the elite field and get an opportunity to run alongside some of the world’s leading long distance athletes. They will also be vying for a piece of the separate prize fund for Indian athletes amounting to USD 35,100, with the winners standing to gain USD 4000 each.

Besides Irappa Akki, the men’s field will also have names like Santosh Kumar, runner-up for the last two years, B C Tilak, winner of the half marathon in the Mumbai Marathon 2011, Deepchand Saharan, the Indian course record holder with a timing of 1.04.00, Satish Kumar, Soji Mathew, Lyngkhoi Bining, Ratti Ram Saini and Angad Kumar, to name a few. Irappa had clocked 1:4.32 while winning last year and is confident of bettering that mark this year and having a shot at Deepchand’s course record.

The strong women’s field will have last year’s runners-up Kiran Tiwari, besides Asian Games medalists Kavita Raut and Sudha Singh. Kavita Raut, with the fastest time of 1:17.12, clocked while winning in 2008, missed out on the last two editions and will be looking to make an impact when she takes the starter’s flag. So too will be Sudha Singh, who, according to Indian elite athletes coordinator Sunita Godara, is in fine form and will be looking to better her timing of 1:17.39 she had clocked in 2008.

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