Uttekar, Leelamma claim titles

CHENNAI, NOV. 4. Santosh Uttekar of BEG (Pune) and Leelamma Alphonse of Western Railway won the men's and women's titles respectively in the inaugural Chennai marathon held here on Sunday.

Over 400 men and 150 women took part in the AAFI- recognised race, which was run over the standard distance of 42.195km for men, but only half that distance for women. Around 40 runners made the cut in the men's section and some 27 in the women's section.

The Nehru Stadium was the start and finish point of the race which was run via Labour Statue, Light House, Adyar corner, IIT Campus, Concorde Motors to the Velachery Bus Terminus and back.

Uttekar, 24 years of age and winner of the Thane marathon, said the persistent drizzle made things quite pleasant. ``The rain had a cooling effect, in fact it helped improve my timing.''

Uttekar, K. Babu of Ooty, Amarnath (BEG), Pradeep Kumar (BEG) and Nanajah, the top five finishers in that order, broke away from the rest by the 27-km. mark. Thereafter, Uttekar and Babu kicked off, Amarnath failed to do so, while Pradeep was hampered by the pain in the right ankle.

Uttekar and Babu kept pace with each other till the 40-km mark before the former, the more experienced of the two, took the lead and held it till the end.

Babu, a self-trained athlete, was running bare feet. He said he was advised against wearing shoes in rainy conditions as it could be uncomfortable. However, in retrospect, he regretted the move.

Uttekar took home Rs. 50,000, Babu Rs. 25,000 and Amarnath Rs. 10,000.

Leelamma, three-time winner of the Thane and Allahabad marathons and an experienced international runner, took the lead from G. Pangadjame by the 5-km point and stayed ahead of the pack till the end.

Pangadjame of Southern Railway, who is also a cross- country runner, ran bare feet and said the rains made it uncomfortable for her.

Sathyabhama D'Souza of Western Railway finished third. The current National record holder said she has been training on the full distance with the National Games, SAF Games and Afro Asian Games in mind, hence couldn't settle down to the speed of the race here.

Two 12-year-old girls, S. Manickavasuki (St. Joseph's School, Maraimalar Nagar) and J. Sandhya (Presidency School, Egmore), achieved the feat of completing the race.

Leelamma grew richer by Rs. 25,000, Pangadjame by Rs. 12,500 and Sathyabhama by Rs. 5,000.

Mr. Thambidurai, Education Minister, gave away the prizes. Earlier, Mr. W.I. Dawaram, President, TNAAA, and Mrs. Shiny Wilson, ex-Olympian, flagged off the men's and women's races respectively.

The placings:

Men (42-km and 195m): 1. Santosh Uttekar (BEG, Pune) 2 hours, 27 min, 36 secs; 2. K. Babu (Ooty) 2:28.01; 3. Amarnath (BEG, Pune) 2:29.00; 4. Pradeep Kumar (BEG, Pune) 2:29.19; 5. T.G. Nanajah 2:32.14.

Women (21-km): 1. Leelamma Alphonse (W. Rly) 1 hour, 21 min, 25 secs; 2. G. Pangadjame (S. Rly) 1:24.55; 3. Sathyabhama R. D'Souza (W. Rly) 1:25.08; 4. A. Padathi 1:32.51; 5. T. Anuradha 1:34.37.

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