Hendrick Ramaala - 27:43.07 - in Port Elizabeth ABSA 2003 (© Mark Ouma)
It was a dream come true for the South African distance runner Hendrik Ramaala as he achieved his first-ever victory on any marathon course, by winning the title in the inaugural Standard Chartered Mumbai International Marathon on Sunday, clocking a modest 2:15:47. His reward was a prize purse of USD $25,000.
Considering the sunny weather and the slightly inclined course, Ramaala's effort was commendable as his fellow countryman Josiah Thugwane, the 1996 Olympic champion dropped out at 31Km mark.
Ramaala, 32, who holds the South African record for 10,000m (27:29.94), has already been selected by his national federation for the Athens Olympics thanks to his ninth place finish in last year’s World championships race in Paris.
In his career he has run many quick marathons highlighted by a 2:08:58 personal best when finishing eighth last year in the London Marathon. He debuted at the distance in the same race in 2000, placing fifth in 2:09:43.
In Mumbai, Kenya's Julius Sugut (2:16:36) and Tanzanian Lucian Hambo (2:16:50) finished in second and third behind Ramaala for an African sweep. The first Indian home was K.C. Ramu who reached the finish line in 23rd (2:26:14).
Polish victory in women's race
European athletes ruled the women's side with Poland's Violetta Vryga clocking the best 2:47:53 in front of Hungarian Judith Nagy (2:49:50) and Natalya Galushkov of Belarus (2:50:24). India's Indresh Dhiraj finished a creditable tenth with a time of 2:59:53.
Indian runners Rajkumar (1:15:36) and Sarabjit Kaur (1:24:39) won the men's and women’s half-marathons respectively.
A number of prominent members of the global athletic family were in Mumbai, a magnificent city on the Arabian Sea which is the financial capital of the Indian Republic, to promote the Marathon. Among them were Ms. Nawal El Moutawakel, IAAF Council Member and 1984 Olympic Champion in 400m Hurdles at Los Angeles, and American World Record-holders Michael Johnson (200/400m) and Mike Powell (LJ).
A Large number of industrialists like Anil Ambani of Reliance Industries and Pardeep Ruia of Essar Group besides a host of stars from Bollywood (the Indian equivalent to the Hollywood) were also there as 'participants' in the 7 Km "Dream Run" to popularize athletics to young children. The cine-stars included
Kajol, Dino Morea, Tara Sharma, Puru Rajkumar, Jackie Shroff and his son Tiger, Rahul Bose, Pooja Bedi, Sita Thompson, Tanuja, Tanisha Mukherji, Aryan Vaid, Mandira Bedi, Jessie Randhawa, Moshe Shek, Perizaad Zorabian, Sudha Chandran and John Abraham.
The Marathon was started off by Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr. Sushilkumar Shinde in the presence of Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, IAAF Council Member, President of the Amateur Athletic Federation of India and Asian Athletic Association.
In total, the first Mumbai International Marathon was a great success with a participation of around 20,000 athletes in all categories, and over 50,000 spectators on roadside and a large television audience watching live on the national channel Doordarshan and Star Sports.
