HURISA WALKS OFF WITH 60,000 USD AFTER MUMBAI MARATHON WIN

Derara Hurisa didn’t feature in any lists of favourites for the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2020 but the Ethiopian, a late addition to the elite field, upset the odds to win in a course record of 2:08:09 on Sunday.

As a reward for coming home in front of the strongest men’s marathon field ever assembled in India, and running the fastest time over the classic distance ever seen on Indian soil, Hurisa was rewarded with his biggest ever pay day: a US$45,000 winner’s cheque and a US$15,000 course record bonus. In fact, the amount he picked up on Sunday for his stunning win was more than he had pocketed across his entire previous career.

In addition, his victory came in borrowed racing shoes. “I mislaid my shoes while travelling from Addis Ababa to Mumbai earlier in the week so I borrowed some shoes from my friend Abraham Girma (who was also in Tata Mumbai Marathon) so I only tried them on for the first time yesterday,” Hurisa revealed after the race. “As for the money, I was only thinking about running well and trying to win during the race but now I will obviously start planning on what I am going to do with it,” he added.

In a thrilling finish to the 17th edition of the World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, three men approached the last kilometre together but Hurisa went through the gears as the trio passed that check point and he pulled away from his compatriots Ayele Abshero and Birhanu Teshome. The pair went on to finish second and third respectively in 2:08:20 and 2:08:26, with both men also inside the former course record of 2:08:35. Prior to Sunday, the 22-year-old Hurisa’s most notable achievement was taking the silver medal in the African Cross Country Championships U20 race four years ago. His win in the City of Dreams – which certainly lived up to its nickname as far as Hurisa was concerned – was only his second international win, the only other being a low-key half marathon in Turkey in 2017.