Kenyan runners dominated the race aa, Peter Mwaniki clinched the men’s title while Lilian Kasait bagged the women’s crown in the 16th edition of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru on Sunday.

The contest between the Indian elite athletes saw a stellar performance from Kiran Matre who took the first position and break the event record with a timing of 29:32.

Meanwhile, Sanjivani dominated the Indian women’s lineup to set herself up for a comfortable first-place finish.

As winners of the prestigious USD 210,000 World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, Peter Mwaniki and Lilian Kasait took home an equal prize cheque of USD 26,000 each.
In the Indian elite category, Kiran Matre and Sanjivani Jadhav bagged the grand cash purse of Rs 2,75,000 each. Additionally, Kiran Matre also secured a bonus of Rs 1,00,000 for breaking the event record.

Mwaniki, who came into the race as a hot favourite, got off to a conservative start. At the 7.5km mark, he was level pegging with his Kenyan peer Hillary Chepkwony.
However, Mwaniki surged forward in the final stretch to finish comfortably with a timing of 28:15, while Hillary Chepkwony (28:33) finished behind him.
Also logging a resounding performance was 17-year-old debutant Hagos Eyob who clocked an impressive 28:39 to finish third.

The international elite women’s race took shape early in the run as the world’s second-fastest 10K runner, Emmaculate Achol looked to lead the pack from the get-go.
Following the 7.1 Km mark, Lilian Kasait seized the opportunity to power ahead of Achol, with Irene Chaptai’s event record of (30:35) in danger.

Lilian Kasait finished her run just short of the event record, clocking 30:56. Meanwhile, Emmaculate Achol (31:17) and Lemlem Hailu (31:23) finished second and third respectively.

“It was a very aggressive race, we were fast from the beginning. Emmaculate was really pushing us all, I just tried to keep up with her. At the 7km mark, I felt I could push myself and decided to go for it.” Kasait said after the race

The race for the Indian elite men saw the top four positions finish ahead of the previous course record. In an evenly-fought contest, Kiran Matre breached the finish line while clocking his personal best of 29:32. In close pursuit were Ranjeet Kumar Patel (29:35) and Dharmendra (29:45) who completed the podium.
“Between the 4th and 8th kilometre, I found the run quite challenging, so I’m very pleased with the result. Last year I finished 12th, so this victory is very satisfying. I hope to use this momentum to prepare for the Paris Olympics and try to break the 28-minute mark.” Kiran opined
Meanwhile, event record holder Sanjivani dominated the line up in the women’s category to complete her third victory at the TCS World
The Indian women’s run saw an early push in by Sonam (36:27). Sanjivani eventually broke through in pursuit of another event record, though she fell short with a timing of 34:03. She was closely followed by Lilli Das (34:13) who finished second while Preenu Yadav finished third at 34:24.