- Joyce Tele won the 2024 Mumbai Marathon in a time of 2:24:56.
- Tele received $50,000 (approximately Ksh 6,474,000 as per the current exchange rate) for winning the title.
- Vincent Langat led Kenyan men to podium sweep in the Santa Pola Half Marathon in Spain.
Kenyan athletes had an outstanding outing on Sunday, January 19 in road races held in India and Spain.
Vincent Langat produced a remarkable display to win the Santa Pola Half Marathon ahead of his Kenyan country men.
Langat outpaced the 2024 Tokyo Marathon third-place finisher Vincent Ngetich Kipkemboi to clinch the title in a time of 59:55 with the clocking 1:00:00.
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Jonathon Kamosong ensured Kenya complete a podium sweep when he came in a distant third in a slow time of 1:01:25. Another Kenyan representative Hosea Kipkorir could only settle for a fifth place position.
Meanwhile, the women’s category was dominated by Ethiopian athletes. Kidsan Alema won the title in 1:07:07 ahead of Tekle Mulat Godu, who crossed the finishing line more than 30 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Nancy Sang.
Sang was followed by the Kenyan quartet of Joyline Cherotich (1:08:32), Deborah Samum (1:10:18), Beatrice Jepchirchir Cheserek (1:10:25), and Sheila Cheruto (1:11:23) while Kenyan-born Mexican runner Risper Giyaki Besabwa stopped the clock at 1:12:11 to finish in the ninth position.
The Santa Pola Half Marathon is one of the World Athletics Gold label road races that are held in Spain every year.
Joyce Chepkemoi Tele dazzles in India
Elsewhere, Joyce Chepkemoi Tele was in a class of her own as she overcame Bahraini and Ethiopian female runners to bag the 2025 Mumbai Marathon.
Tele, who is fresh from winning the 2024 Ljubljana City Marathon, took matters into her hands at the 27km mark and never looked back.
She went on to cross the finishing line in a time of 2:24:56 and in the process missed the current course record of 2:24:15 that was set by Anchialem Haymanot in 2023.
The second and third place positions went to Bahrain’s Shitaye Eshete and Ethiopia’s Medina Deme Armino, who clocked 2:25:29 and 2:27:58 in that order.
Speaking during the post-race press conference, Tele revealed that she did not have an intention to lower the current course record.
“I came here only to win the race and was not thinking about the record,” commented the 29-year-old.
Unlike the women’s category, no Kenyan man managed to finish inside the top three positions. The Eritrean duo of Tesfay Berhane and Kesete Merhawi secured the first and second positions with Ethiopia’s Demeke Tesfaye finishing third.
Tele and Berhane were each awarded a prize money of $50,000 (approximately Ksh 6,474,700 as per the current exchange rate) for winning the titles while $25,000 and $15,000 went to those who settled for second and third positions.
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