Berhane Tesfay wins the men’s marathon

Joyce Chepkemoi Tele wins the women’s marathon

New course record in the men’s half marathon

For the first time in the event’s history an athlete from Eritrea took top honours at the Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM). On January 19, 2025, at the 20th edition of the race, Berhane Tesfay endured the temperature and humidity of India’s financial capital to cross the finish line in two hours, 11 minutes and 44 seconds to emerge overall winner.

With fellow Eritrean runner, Merhawi Kesete, finishing second in 2:11:50 in the men’s elite segment, the tiny country situated close to the horn of Africa denied the numerically superior team from its big neighbour, Ethiopia, any chance of repeating the sweep of podium positions it accomplished in 2024. In the men’s elite category, Ethiopian runner, Tesfaye Demeke (2:11:56), secured his country a third place. Last year’s winner, Lemi Berhanu Hayle of Ethiopia had to settle for the sixth place this time; he finished in 2:14:54. In 2024, Ethiopian runners had swept the top three podium positions in both gender categories.

In the women’s elite category race of 2025, Joyce Chepkemoi Tele of Kenya (2:24:56) placed first. She was followed to the finish line by Shitaye Eshete (2:25:29) of Bahrain and Medina Deme Armino of Ethiopia (2:27:58), who placed second and third respectively. Shift to the Indian women’s elite category and the top three finishers were Nirmaben Thakor (2:50:06), Sonika Parmar (2:50:55) and Sonam (2:55:45), in that order. For Nirmaben, who placed sixteenth overall in the women’s marathon in Mumbai this year (source: World Athletics report on 2025 TMM), it was a case of successfully defending her title from 2024.  Sonika was seventeenth overall in the women’s marathon and Sonam, eighteenth. In the Indian men’s elite category, Anish Thapa (2:17:23) was the first to cross the finish line. He placed seventh overall in the men’s marathon. Anish was followed by Man Singh (2:17:37 / eighth overall) and Gopi Thonakal (2:19:59 / eleventh overall); they finished second and third among Indian elite men respectively. All three runners – Anish, Man and Gopi – are from the Indian Army.

The top 10 finishers in the elite men’s marathon included two Eritreans, two Indians, one Kenyan and five Ethiopians. The same from the women’s elite marathon was composed of one athlete from Kenya, one from Bahrain and the remaining eight, from Ethiopia. A country with highlands like its neighbour Ethiopia and a sea coast for bonus, Eritrea is known for its prowess in long distance running. It has produced athletes like Zersenay Tadese and Ghirmay Ghebreslassie. On the whole however, Eritrea’s strength in the marathon has stayed overshadowed by the achievements of Ethiopia, a long established power house in the sport.

In the men’s half marathon at 2025 TMM, Sawan Barwal covered the distance in 1:04:36. According to information posted on the X and Instagram accounts of TMM, Barwal’s timing is a new course record. Second and third positions in the men’s half marathon went to Harmanjot Singh (1:06:01) and Kartik Karkera (1:07:18).  In the women’s half marathon, the top three spots went to Stanzin Dolkar (1:25:47), Skarma Idong Lanzes (1:26:59) and Tashi Ladol (1:29:27).  

This year, over 65,000 people had registered to participate, across various disciplines, in the annual marathon. Known for its fickle weather conditions on race day, Mumbai went into the 2025 TMM with concerns expressed about air pollution. There was smog in the preceding days. From their planes, travellers flying into the city could see a thick layer of smoke and dust spread over the city. The smog denied proper view of the city’s skyline from South Mumbai’s Marine Drive, those working at Nariman Point said. Equally lost were the views from the Vashi bridge, of the region’s major port and its massive gantry cranes.

On the day of the annual marathon however, it was that characteristic Mumbai mix of heat and humidity, which became a challenge for many runners. The time taken to finish by the overall winner in 2025 compares with the 2:07:50 of 2024, which was a year of unusually good weather on race day in Mumbai. Needless to say, a majority of the Indian elite runners that this blog spoke to, expressed the desire to see the elite race commence earlier than the 7.20 AM start it enjoys currently. When contacted, Nirmaben, who was the winner in the Indian women’s elite category told this blog, “ Race day was quite warm with high humidity. My body was getting heated. Our start time was very late. Nevertheless, the race overall went well.” “ Maybe 6 AM or 6.30 AM – that could be better,’’ Anish Thapa, the winner among Indian elite men, said referring to an ideal start time for the elite race, during a brief conversation with this blog. The sole new course record of the day came from the men’s half marathon, a race that features an early start. The sun wasn’t yet out, when Sawan Barwal whizzed past this author witnessing the 2025 TMM at Churchgate in the city.   

At the same time, it is worth noting that Berhane Tesfay’s timing from a warm and humid Mumbai morning on a course with an uphill and a downhill in it, was better than the longstanding Indian national record in the men’s marathon, which Indian athletes have been attempting to better for some years now.

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai)