Delhi Half Marathon: Birhanu Legese, Irine Cheptai to lead the field

Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese and Kenya’s Irine Cheptai will be the star attractions in the 21st Delhi Half Marathon on October 18.

Legese will headline the elite men's line-up with a personal best of 58:59, making him the fastest athlete among those announced for this year’s meet. In the women’s field, Kenya’s Irine Cheptai will lead the charge with a personal best of 64:53.

The World Athletics Gold Label road race will bring together some of the world’s finest distance runners, who will compete for a total prize purse of USD 275,732, with the winner in each category set to receive USD 27,000.

Prize money will be awarded through to the 10th-place finisher in both the men’s and women’s categories, alongside separate incentives for the top Indian finishers.

Apart from this, an event-record bonus of USD 12,000 is also in the offing for the elite athlete who better the previous mark in their category.

Legese will be joined by a formidable field of seven men with sub-60-minute personal bests, setting the stage for one of the most competitive men’s races in the event’s history.

Among those looking to challenge Legese is Kenya’s Charles Matata, the 2023 runner-up, who also finished second at the Istanbul Half Marathon earlier this year.

Two other leading Ethiopians, Deriba Tesfaye and Melaku Belachew, will add further strength to the field.

Both arrive in Delhi in impressive form, with Deriba finishing second at the Rotterdam Marathon and Melaku winning the Hong Kong Marathon 2026.

“I have narrowly missed the podium in last year’s race and am eager to make amends this time," Legese said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)