Delhi Half Marathon 2025: Kenya's Alex Matata and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk clinch title

Kenya’s Alex Matata and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk stamped their dominance at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2025 on Sunday (October 12), clinching the men’s and women’s elite titles in pleasant weather conditions. Matata, who had finished as runner-up in last year’s edition, executed a well-planned race to cross the finish line in 59 minutes and 50 seconds. He edged past Ethiopia’s Boyelign Teshager, who clocked 1:00:22, while fellow Kenyan James Kipkogei secured third place with a time of 1:00:25.

In the women’s elite race, Rengeruk delivered a strong performance, finishing in 1:07:20 to claim the top spot. She narrowly beat Ethiopians Melal Siyoum Biratu (1:07:21) and Mulat Tekle (1:07:29), who finished second and third respectively. Among the Indian contingent, Abhishek Pal and Seema emerged as the fastest male and female runners. Pal completed the course in 1:04:17, while Seema clocked 1:11:23.

Speaking after the marathon, Abhishek Pal while speaking to WION said, “My brother, Rahul Kumar Pal, who is also my coach, told me how to do it and how to go about the marathon. Earlier, many people used to tell me to go back but this time I went ahead right from the starting.” Meanwhile, Seema shared her thoughts about the marathon. She said, "I am feeling good and sad at the same time because I have missed the course record by not much. But I hope that next time when I come to compete, I will do my best to break the record. The record was running in my mind throughout but due to the unbalance of my body towards the end, I got a little confused. Still, I did my best.”

Celebrating its 20th edition this year, the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon holds the World Athletics Gold Label status and offers a total prize purse of $260,000.