London Olympian Ram Singh to skip Mumbai Marathon

"Ram Singh Yadav was among 13 London Olympians who were felicitated at the Army Day function on January 15 in Delhi. He had been called ten days earlier for the function and there was a disbalance in his training for the Mumbai Marathon for which he was training since November," said Indian Army coach, K S Mathew, at a media conference here today.

Yadav had qualified for the London Games by finishing as the top Indian male in the 2012 Mumbai Marathon with a personal best time of 2 hours 16 minutes and 59 seconds, but came a cropper at the Olympics where he finished a distant 78th, out of 105 starters, clocking a poor 2:30:06.

"Yadav, Satyaprakash and K C Ramu are all part of the Services team which will take part in the national marathon at Delhi on February 17," Mathew informed PTI.

The absence of the 32-year-old Varanasi-born Yadav -- who was overall 12th in the race in 2012 -- has made his army mate Elam Singh, the top Indian in 3,000m steeplechase, as the favourite among the home country's male runners and for the top prize of Rs 4.5 lakh.

Elam was second among Indians behind Yadav in 2:18:27, just missing the 'B' standard cut-off for the London Games and was 15th overall in the race won by Laban Moiben of Kenya, who is to defend his title this year, in 2:10:48.

Karan Singh -- 5th among Indians last year, India no. 1 Bining Lyngkhai, Sanaton Singh and Arvind Yadav -- winner of the Allahabad Marathon in 2012, are also strong contenders with Elam for topping the Indian men runners on January 20.

"I will try to clock my personal best. Last year the experienced Ram Singh set the pace. Whether I will be the best among Indians depends on the competition," said Elam today.

Elite Indian athletes' co-ordinator Sunita Godhra said that 50 men and 24 women are in the fray for full and half marathons, adding that Bining and women's top half marathon contenders -- Sudha Singh and Kavita Raut -- are to arrive tomorrow.