Kolkata: The seventh edition of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K saw winners Leonard Barsoton and Desi Jisa in the men's and women's elite international category respectively rewrite the record books on a nippy Sunday morning that saw over 15,000 running enthusiasts put their best foot forward literally.
Kenya's Barsoton defended his TSK 25K title in style as he betted his own course record of 1:13.05 he set in 2019. Barsoton, the 2017 world cross-country silver medalist, finished in 1.12.49.
In the mix right from the beginning, but not in the lead pack, Barsoton was behind Alfred Ngeno, Abdisa Tola and Berhanu Legese. He picked up pace after the 20 km mark and never looked back.
"I know the course and I knew exactly when to pick up the pace.
I started picking up the pace from 20.06 kms. The last stretch is flat," said Barsoton, who will take home a USD 7500 winner's cheque along with an event record bonus of USD 3000.
"I had been preparing for the last two months. I had some niggles but despite that, I am happy to have won here and with a course record.
It was a very competitive race and the others in the field gave me a tough fight," Barsoton added.
Meanwhile, in the women's elite category Bahrain's Desi Jisa shaved off almost a minute from the course record set by Ethiopian Guteni Shone to clinch the race and take home USD 7500 and an event record bonus of USD 3000.
She finished in 1:21:04 to eclipse the previous mark of 1:22:09 set two years back.
"I thank Kolkata for such a warm welcome. I wanted to win the race and I'm thrilled to have done it with a course record. Now my target will be to participate in Paris (2024 Olympics), a dream for all.
The atmosphere is really good here and the course is nice and flat. I loved running here," said Jisa, who was runner-up here in 2019.
Ethiopian Berhanu Legese (1:12:54) and Commonwealth Games marathon champion Victor Kiplangat of Uganda (1:12:56) took the second and third place respectively in the men's elite category.