New Delhi, Oct 15 : Kenya's Daniel Ebenyo and Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana lived up to their billings by taking the top honours in the 18th edition of the Delhi Half Marathon, while Abhishek Pal and Kavita Yadav claimed Elite Indian men and women titles, respectively, here on Sunday. Ayana, the 2016 Rio Olympics Champion and winner of the Delhi Half Marathon six years ago, came closer to her 2017 winning time in the women's race. She went on to claim the top spot in 67:58. Uganda's Stella Chesang finished 28 seconds later for the second place while Viola Chepngeno from Kenya completed the podium in 69:09. Running with the company of her country-mates Aberash MInsewo and Dessie Anchinalu besides the Kenyan Chepngeno as well as Uganda's Chesang, covered the first quarter of the race in 15:45-15:47 while the other runner from Kenya - Vivian Cheruiyot, the Rio Olympics 5000m victor was slightly behind. Although Ayana maintained her 16-minute pace for each of the five-kilometre intervals, but thereafter slowed down in the final phases of the race as her nearest challenger Stella was a distance away and had to run her own race. A large group of about eight Kenyan runners along with the Ethiopian Addisu Gobena took the lead in the men's race. The group of runners stayed together until the 13th kilometre when Ebenyo and his teammate Chales Matata started breaking away from the rest. Chales, the runner-up in this year's Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon in Madrid was pushing Ebenyo for another five kilometres. However, Ebenyo, the Silver Medalist in the World Half Marathon earlier this year, increased his pace at the right time to move at least half a minute ahead of Chales. Ebenyo romped home the winner in 59 minutes 27 seconds. Chales took 60:05 for the silver spot whilst Gobena brought some cheer to the Ethiopian camp 46 seconds later as his country-mate and reigning champion Chala Regasa left the race midway. Meanwhile, Abhishek reclaimed the Indian Elite Men's title at the Delhi Half Marathon 2023 after competing neck and neck with Asian Games 2022 Silver Medallist Kartik Kumar. Abhishek recorded a timing of 64:07, while Kartik missed the top prize by a fraction of a second and finished with 64:08. Meanwhile, Sawan Barwal finished third with a timing of 64:17. Abhishek was the 2018 winner with 64:13 and he bettered his timing in this edition. Speaking about his victory, he said: "Kartik and I have had a lot of close contests and today we had another one. It's great to clinch first place in the Indian Elite Men's race once again. Kartik and I train together and I am really happy about his achievement at the Asian Games. We'll definitely have another photo finish at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon next year." Meanwhile, Kartik expressed, "I thought for a moment during the race that I might not win a Medal today, but fortunately, I won a Silver and I am very happy about it. I trained hard for the last few days and I wanted to do justice to my training." Kavita Yadav clinched the first position in the Indian Elite Women's Race on her debut with a timing of 77:42, while Rima Patel (77:48) and Poonam Dinkar Sonune (77:49) finished second and third respectively. Kavita expressed her excitement after clinching Gold in the Indian Elite Women's Race, and said: "I am thrilled to win the Indian Elite Women's race on my debut. The race got very close towards the end and I had to push hard in the last 400m to ensure that I finished first. It was a great experience to run in Delhi and I will certainly come back to defend my title." Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of Youth Affairs, Sports and IMB graced his presence at the event. Speaking about the event, he said, "I am delighted to see the response for the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon. The participation of 36000 runners showed the enthusiasm with which the country has embraced the FIT India Movement envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and it has become a people's movement. The atmosphere in the stadium was the most vibrant that I have seen, and it is evident that citizens are embracing fitness and good health asawayoflife." /IANS