At Delhi half marathon, it’s business as usual for Lalita Babbar

Lalita Babbar flanked by second-place finisher OP Jaisha and Sudha Singh who finished third among the Indian category for women at the Delhi half-marathon.

OF LATE, Lalita Babar has made a habit of breaking national records. On Sunday, at the Delhi Half Marathon, she broke the national record in the women’s category by clocking 1:10:52, almost two minutes better than Kavita Raut.

The timing was enough for her to reach the finish line before any other Indian runner. In the process, she was eighth in the women’s elite category – a race won by Kenya’s Cynthia Limo (1:08:35) with her compatriots Helah Kiprop (1:08:35) and Gladys Chesir (1:08:36) finishing second and third respectively in a thrilling neck-to-neck contest. In the Indian category, apart from Lalita, OP Jaisha finished second (ninth overall) and Sudha Singh finished third (10th overall) clocking 1:11:34 and 1:11:46 respectively. The trio also broke Kavita Raut’s old record of 1:17:12 seconds, at the Pune Half Marathon in 2008 by almost six-and-a-half minutes.

Even an hour after the race, Babar found it difficult to control the excitement and was at loss of words to explain her happiness as her prayers had been answered. “Before every race I think about the national record and pray that I will break it. I did it today and I am happy,” Lalita said.

Only in August this year, the 26-year-old broke the 3000m steeplechase national record by clocking 9:27.86 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Earlier in June, Babar had set the national record for the same event at the Asian Championships in June with a time of 9:34.13. Sunday’s race her do it once again but in a different event.

The Indian runners matched the Kenyan athletes and it was not before the nine kilometre mark that the Kenyan trio broke from the lot and accelerated. But Babar continued at her pace and took the lead among the Indian athletes at the 13-km mark. “We tried to match the Kenyans and we started faster than them. But by the 10-km mark they increased their pace. I realised at the 13-km mark that I can be the fastest for India. From there on I didn’t look back,” she said.

The turnaround

Barely 11 months ago, Babar’s personal best at the half marathon was a mediocre 1:17:28. Under a rigid training schedule of national coach Dr Nikolai Snesarev, Babar, alongwith Jaisha and Sudha, prepared for their events at Coonor and currently are preparing at the national camp in Ooty.

Dr. Snesarev made sure the three train at higher altitudes and put extra pressure on their bodies. After her World Championships in Beijing, Babar was busy preparing for the half marathon. Training in Ooty, Babar ran on steep tracks enveloped with fog. The chill of the mountains made it even more difficult for the athletes.

But the hard work paid off for them on Sunday. With their training done in Ooty, the Indian trio was able to beat the Delhi chill and even the early morning smog did not affect their run enabling them to finish in top 10. “Our coach asked us for a national record in this race and we gave it to him.” said Babar, who has previously won the same race in 2010 and 2009.

Babar and her teammates return to Ooty on Monday to resume training. “I am focussed at doing well in the Mumbai marathon. Rio Olympics is the main target and I will look to qualify by clocking a good time in Mumbai,” Babar, a two-time winner and this year’s Mumbai marathon runners-up, added.