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 categories 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. Jissa said “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.
