The 2018 Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM) in progress; elite contingent on the right (Photo: by arrangement)

Thousands participated in the 2018 Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM) held on January 21.

The overall winner in the men’s category of the full marathon was Ethiopia’s Solomon Deksisa who finished in 2 hours 9 minutes and 34 seconds. The overall winner in the women’s category of the full marathon was Amane Gobena, also from Ethiopia. She finished in 2:25:49. In men, the second and third position went to Shumet Akalnaw and Joshua Kipkorir respectively, while in women, the corresponding podium finishers were Bornes Kitur and Shuko Genemo.

2018 TMM; some of the elite athletes (Photo: by arrangement)

Among Indian elite athletes, Gopi Thonakal finished first in the full marathon for men with a timing of 2:16:51. He was closely followed by Nitendra Singh Rawat who finished in 2:16:54. Srinu Bugatha placed third with a timing of 2:23:56. In the Indian women’s category of the elite section, Sudha Singh finished first in the full marathon with a timing of 2:48:32. She was followed by Jyoti Gawte (2:50:47) and Parul Chaudhary (2:53:26).

2018 TMM; some of the elite athletes (Photo: by arrangement)

The first Mumbai Marathon was held in 2004. This year marked the fifteenth edition of the annual event and the first time it was sponsored by Tata. In early August 2017, it was officially disclosed that the Tata Group had inked a ten year deal to be title sponsors of the marathon replacing Standard Chartered Bank. TMM is the biggest marathon in Asia in terms of participation and prize money. Going ahead, managing the emergent maturity of the fifteen year-old event and setting an engaging direction for it, will be among challenges for the organizers.

Solomon Deksisa running at the 2018 TMM (Photo: by arrangement)

The just ended TMM had for the first time, a timed 10 km-race in addition to the regular half marathon and full marathon.  Given ongoing work related to building Mumbai’s metro, the marathon’s route near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) – it represents the concluding stage of the half marathon and the beginning and concluding stages of the full marathon – had to be altered.

(The authors Latha Venkatraman and Shyam G Menon are independent journalists based in Mumbai.)