Tata Mumbai Marathon 2020: 5 things you should know about champion Derara Hurisa

One of the most prestigious marathons in the country, Tata Mumbai Marathon 2020, was held successfully on Sunday, January 19, 2020, where more than 55,000 participated in the run. The event was held in four categories - Dream Run, 10k, 21k and 42k.

To everyone's surprise, Derara Hurisa, the runner from Ethiopia won the International Elite Full Marathon Men's category and became the talk of the town. So, here are five things that you should know about Derara Hurisa, a 22-year-old Ethiopian athlete:

Mumbai Marathon 2020 is his debut Mumbai Marathon

This was the first time that Hurisa was running in the annually-held Tata Mumbai Marathon. Along with this, he was running his first full marathon. Despite being the youngest and the least experienced person in the Ethiopian squad, Hurisa managed to emerge as the champion in the tournament.

He wore borrowed shoes

According to Hurisa, he mislaid his shoes while travelling and therefore, he had to borrow another pair from his friend, who was also a participant of the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2020. He said, 

I mislaid my shoes while travelling from Addis Ababa to Mumbai earlier in the week so I borrowed some shoes from my friend Abraham Girma (who was also in the marathon) so I only tried them on for the first time yesterday. As for the money, I was only thinking about running well and trying to win during the race but now I will obviously start planning on what I am going to do with it."

He broke the record in the Elite category of Mumbai Marathon

Everyone loves an underdog and the underdog in the story was Hurisa. He did not have his own shoes, he was running in full-fledged marathon for the first time, and was also making his debut in Mumbai Marathon. Not only did he complete the marathon, he also completed the course in a record of 2:08:09 seconds and broke the former record. Later, he was felicitated with US $45,000 and US $15,000 as a course record bonus. 

The Controversial Win

While he was showered with praises for his feat, his win raised questions after he was seen running with the neon (lime green or pink) Nike Vaporfly shoes. The Vaporfly has carbon fibre plates and air pockets in their thick soles that act like springs. Later in the month, the IAAF will take a decision on the legality on a range of shoes used in pro races and whether it amounts to ‘technological doping’. Given the controversial make-up of the shoes, World Athletics is also said to be considering banning them from competitions.

He is professional cross country runner

Hurisa is a World Junior Athletics participant for Ethiopia in cross country running. Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. So think of cross country running as a marathon but only instead of smooth roads, it challenges the runner by putting him/her on a rough field.

Here are his previous running records: