Ram Singh was among 13 London Olympians who were felicitated at the Army Day function on January 15 in Delhi and this affected his training programme and forced him to skip the meet.
The absence of 32-year-old Varanasi-born Yadav -- who was overall 12th in the race in 2012 and qualified for the London Games -- his army mate Elam Singh will be the favourite among the hosts male runners.
Elam was second among Indians behind Yadav, just missing the 'B' standard cut-off for the London Games and was 15th overall in the race won by Laban Moiben of Kenya in 2:10:48.
"I will try to clock my personal best. Last year the experienced Ram Singh set the pace. Whether I will be the best among Indians depends on the competition," said Elam yesterday.
Karan Singh, fifth among Indians last year, national no. 1 ranked Bining Lyngkhai, a former winner among the home country runners, Sanaton Singh and Arvind Yadav -- winner of the Allahabad Marathon in 2012, are the other strong Indian contenders from the armed forces.
Karan, bronze medallist at the Allahabad Marathon last year clocking 2:24:00, is taking part in the Mumbai event for the first time.
According to Elite Indian athletes' co-ordinator, Sunita Godhra, 50 men and 24 women are in the fray for full and half marathons.
Armyman B C Tilak, winner of the 2011 half marathon (21km), is for the first time competing in the full marathon this year. (More)
