Harmanjot Singh, Lili Das to headline Indian Elite Field at Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon

Harmanjot Singh and Lili Das will headline a 42-strong Indian elite field at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon scheduled to be held here on October 18.

The Indian field for the 21st edition of the World Athletics Gold Label Road Race comprises 22 men and 20 women. The men's field will be led by Singh and Kiran Matre in the men's category.

Singh, the reigning TCS World 10K Bengaluru Indian Elite champion and silver medallist at the Asian Cross Country Championships, will make his Delhi Half Marathon debut. With a personal best of 1:01:46 at the Alwar Tiger International Half Marathon, the fastest in the Indian Elite field, he enters the race as a strong contender.

"Winning in Bengaluru and taking silver at the Asian Cross Country this year has given me a lot of confidence going into Delhi.

"It is one of the toughest races in the country, with a field that pushes you to your limit, and I am looking forward to testing myself against the best elite runners over the half marathon distance. I will give it everything on race day," said Singh in a release.

Matre, who finished second among the Indian Elite men at the last edition and set his half marathon personal best of 1:04:57 in that race, will look to build on that performance on home roads. He is also a former winner of the Indian Elite race at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru (2024), where he clocked a personal best of 29:32.

The pair will face strong competition from Dr Kartik Karkera, winner of the Indian Elite men's race at the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026 and second runner-up at the last edition.

Also returning to the half marathon circuit after a long hiatus is Prince Kumar of Uttar Pradesh, who won the 5,000m and 10,000m titles at the 2025 Open National Athletics Championships and the 5,000m gold at the 2025 South Asian Athletics Championships.

Asian Games 2023 steeplechase bronze medallist Priti Lamba will add further depth to the field.

Former Indian Elite champions lead women's charge

In the Women's Elite field, former VDHM Indian Elite champions Lili Das and Kavita Yadav will lead the charge. Lili Das won the Indian Elite women's category in 2024, while Kavita Yadav emerged victorious among the Indian women in 2023.

Their pursuit of another podium finish will be fiercely tested by Olympic and World Championship steeplechaser Ankita Dhyani, who impressed on her half marathon debut in 2025, finishing fifth among the Indian Elite women.

The top three finishers in the Indian Elite Men's and Women's categories will receive a prize money of ₹3,50,000, ₹2,50,000 and ₹1,50,000, respectively. An additional ₹1,00,000 incentive is also up for grabs for setting a new Indian Elite record at VDHM.

The current Indian Elite records stand at 60:30, set by Avinash Sable in the Men's category in 2020, and 70:31, set by L. Suriya in the Women's category in 2017.