Ethiopians dominate Pune International Marathon

An unheralded Belachew Endale Abayneh clinched his maiden crown as African powerhouses Ethiopia and Kenya swept all the medals in the men's and women's sections of the 28th Pune International Marathon here today.
The 27-year-old Belachew led the Ethiopian gold rush as his compatriots won the titles in the men's and women's half-marathon.
Having finished ninth and 10th on previous two occasions here, it was doubly special for Belachew as he broke into the lead by the 30km mark to cross the finish line at Nehru Stadium after clocking two hours, 17 minutes and 52 seconds.
He was followed across the finish line by Kenyan Ezekiel Cherop who clocked 2:18.16 and Ethiopian Edisa Merga Ejigu in 2:20.33.

"I won here after three failed attempts. I am very happy that I managed to win this time," he said.
Belachew, however, could not improve on his personal best of 2:14.04 and blamed it on the poor traffic management.

As runners approached Dapodi near Aundh, there was heavy traffic mismanagement and the runners had to literally struggle their way out leading to a fall in timing.
The field boasted of Gebregziabher Gebremariam, who had won the New York Marathon on his debut over the distance in 2010 with a personal best of 2:04:53.
The 2009 World cross-country champion from Ethiopia, however, had some trouble and could not finish as the other pack went into the lead.

With the Services athletes pulling out, there was no show from the Indians in the full marathon, while the women's 10km saw an upset when Sangli girl Nilam Rajput stunned Asian Games silver medallist Kavita Raut by six seconds for the top position.