Sunday, May 15 2005 14:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Upstaging the fancied Ethiopians, Services runner K C Ramu stole the lime-light to lift the men's full marathon title in the inaugural Lipton Bangalore International Marathon today (May 15, 2005).

Ramu from Pune-based Army Sports Institute came home in the 42.195 km race, in a comfortable two hours, 23.46 minutes, beating back the challenge of Ethiopians Abebe Seyoum (2:28.37) and Tegayae Desalgne (2:33.10).

Another Ethiopian Tesfaye Bayu Orgawa, who was tipped to take the top spot in view of his personal best of 2:16.45, finished fourth in 2:35.34. The event hadn't attracted big names from overseas, and sparks expectedly did not fly.

A delighted Ramu, who was the Indian winner of the first StanChart Mumbai marathon in 2004 with a time of 2:26, termed his victory a reward for hard work.

"I wasn't surprised by the result. I have been preparing well for this event," said a beaming Ramu, who was among the probables training for medals for India in the 2008 Olympics.

He hails from Karnataka.

Ethiopians swept the top three spots in full marathon in the women's section. Marashet Jimma (2:45.34) took the top prize, followed by Adanech Beyene (2:47.04) and Korre Alemu (3:03.47).

Indian men and women dominated the half-marathon (21.097 kms).

Shanavas of MEG & Centre, Bangalore, came first clocking one minute, 07.45 minutes. Hyderabad's Rama Singh Yadav secured second place (1:08.59), finishing ahead of S B Singh of ASC, Bangalore (1:10.05).

In the women's section, Bhagavathi of Delhi (1:26.24), Chandraprabha Varma (1:31.17) and Neha Agarwal 1:32.57), both from Uttar Pradesh, picked up the first three prizes.

The much-touted celebrity run of seven kms which attracted the largest number of entries failed to live up to the media hype.

Former 800 metres ace Shiny Wilson, Hockey player Ashish Ballal and fashion guru Prasad Bidappa were among the prominent personalities who turned up for the "pleasure of running". Quite a few other "expected" runners failed to put in an appearance.

Organisers claimed a participation of 18,000 people. Employees of corporates based in Bangalore chipped in with large numbers.