Tag Archives: Alemtsehay Misganaw

Ethiopian Runners in the U.S. Vying for a Level Field With Athletes From Ethiopia

June 7, 2011 Tadias Magazine 9 Comments

Tadias Magazine
By Jason Jett

Published: Tuesday, June 7, 2011

New York (Tadias) – Buzunesh Deba of New York City ran the 11th-fastest marathon in the world this year in scorching the course on Sunday at the Dodge Rock n’ Roll San Diego Marathon.

Deba, an Ethiopian, won the event by nearly two minutes after completing the first-half of the course alongside fellow countrywoman Misikir Mekkonin. She finished the race in 2:23:31, while Mekkonin, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was runner-up in a personal best time of 2:25:21.

Deba’s performance on Sunday was described by elite runners coordinator Matthew Turnbull as “one that will make people stand up and take notice.”

It also raises the question: are Ethiopian runners in the United States closing the competitive gap with their compatriots from home?

During the course of the running season in the United States and Canada, major events often come down to a contest between Ethiopians who reside in America and Ethiopians who live in Ethiopia — with many of the runners who travel direct from Addis Ababa being members of the Ethiopian National Athletics Team.

Add in highly competitive Kenyan runners, both those who train in North America and others who travel direct from Kenya, and North America-based Ethiopian runners face a daunting challenge at every competition.

In an attempt to level the field, U.S. based Ethiopian runners are abandoning New York City and Washington, D.C., and seeking high-altitude training grounds of their own

Alemtsehay Misganaw, one of the most consistent athletes on the North America running circuit the past five years, escapes winters by going home to Ethiopia and training at high-altitude from early December to late March — essentially experiencing a second summer each year.

In this seasonal migration she is not alone among runners in the United States. There is a cadre of Ethiopians and Ethiopian-Americans who have found athletic success in America. Serkalem Abra, Genna Tufa and Atalalech Ketema – all seasoned veterans on the North American circuit, also spent last winter at various training sites in and around Addis Ababa, returning to the United States just in time for the spring start of the running season.

With a foot in both countries, either as permanent U.S. residents or traveling with multi-year athletic visa, the runners’ winter mission is to gain enough benefit from Ethiopian altitude-training to be competitive from April to November in races in North America.

Deba, Mekkonin, and other runners who do not spend winter in Ethiopia are training at mountainous locales in this country so they, too, can travel direct from altitude to competitions.

Alemtsehay Misganaw, center, and Mikael Tesfaye, to her left, with
Ethiopian National Athletics Team member Abraham Yilma, right, at
the Jan Meda training course in Addis Ababa. (Photo by Jason Jett).

Belainish Gebre, who won the 2010 Honolulu Marathon, has trained the past three years in Flagstaff, Arizona. Aziza Aliyu, winner of the 2011 ING Miami Marathon, trained last winter in Albuquerque.

Successes speak well for Diaspora athletes, but can they actually catch up to runners who both live and train in Ethiopia?

Misganaw, who won the Virginia Beach Yeungling Shamrock 8K in March and April’s Kentucky Derby Festival Mini-Marathon, said she still has a good base from winter altitude-training and only wishes she could import her coach from Ethiopia.

Mikael Tesfaye has coached Misganaw the past two winters in the absence of her coach-brother Sofonias Ajanew, who in 2009 relocated from Addis Ababa to Luanda to train the Angolan Olympic Team’s track squad.

Tesfaye, a protégé of Ajanew, is an elite runner in his own right, having finished 10th in the 2007 Lebanon Marathon and served as a pacemaker in finishing the 2009 Poznan (Poland) Marathon. Misganaw said her chief benefit from Tesfaye’s coaching comes when pacing through rugged training sessions at sea level in New York City’s Central Park.

Misganaw trained six weeks in the summer of 2009 with Gebre in Flagstaff, and after returning to New York City decided expert coaching and a quality pacemaker can help offset a lack of year-round altitude training.

Retta Feyissa, the coach and manager of Aliyu, said training in Arizona or New Mexico is an option but there is nothing comparable to the rigorous workouts to be had in Ethiopia.

He said, “Many of the Ethiopian runners living in the USA cannot afford to go back and forth to Ethiopia to train for specific races. Training in New Mexico is advantageous, but it is not like training in Ethiopia where you can eat organically and readily find training partners.”

Bill Staab, president of West Side Runners’ Club, which sponsors and advises a large number of international runners based in New York and Washington, said “ideally an Ethiopian runner in the U.S. might live in, say, New York City, go to Albuquerque in the winter and then once a year travel to Ethiopia for two months of intense training for a specific event such as the ING New York City Marathon.”

However, Deriba Merga and Dire Tune, both dominant Ethiopian distance runners, do not see the gap between runners based here and there being closed in World Major races such as the Boston Marathon or the ING New York City Marathon.

“In Ethiopia the conditions are better, the altitude is greater,” Merga, winner of the 2009 Boston Marathon, said after winning the Ottawa 10K last week. Tune, speaking in Amharic, agreed.

“Also, the coaching is better,” added Merga. “Here, one runner has this coach and another has that coach. Runners have their own coach.”

“In Ethiopia we all have the same coach, we are a team,” he said, pointing around a lunch table to 2008 Boston Marathon winner Tune and 2004 Olympian Ejegayehu Dibaba.

“And the culture is different in Ethiopia,” Merga added. “There is more discipline, and a focus on training.”

Asked if such discipline and focus means day-after-day cycles of only running, eating and sleeping, Merga said there is free time in the runners’ schedules.

“I have a car, and I take my girlfriend out to the movies or to a restaurant,” he said. “We like to have a good time.”

Dibaba smiled, and then put her hand over her mouth and the discussion came to an end. Speaking in Amharic, Dibaba said she has free time but “that part of my life is private.”
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Video: Post-race interview with Buzunesh Deba at the 2011 Dodge San Diego Marathon

About the Author:
Jason Jett is a New York based freelance journalist.

Cover Image:
The photograph shows the first two women to come through Petco Park during the 2011 San Diego Rock-n-Roll marathon. The location is past near the 5 mile marker. The runner in front is Buzunesh Deba, the eventual winner of the marathon. She finished the race in 2:23:31, the fastest time ever run by a woman in California. (Photo by Justin Brown).
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News

Ethiopian Stars in Canada: Three Wins, One in a Sweep, and a Runner-Up

May 30, 2011 Tadias Magazine 9 Comments

Above: Ethiopian women accomplished a 1-2-3 sweep in the
Ottawa Marathon Sunday. (Post-race photo: Tune & Keneni)

Tadias Magazine
By Jason Jett

Updated: Monday, May 30, 2011

Ottawa (Tadias) — Ethiopian runners narrowly missed a sweep of prize-money races at the 37th edition of the Ottawa Race Weekend, the largest running event in Canada.

Deriba Merga easily beat other male competitors in the feature Ottawa 10K on Saturday, but lost to Dire Tune in a gender competition in which elite women were given a three-minute, 44-second (3:44) head start. Both received $6,000 for winning their respective divisions, with Tune claiming the $4,000 bonus of the gender challenge.

Merga, the 2009 Boston Marathon winner, was on world-record pace through four kilometers but moderated somewhat in the latter stages to finish in 28:30. Tune, the 2008 marathon winner in Boston, fended-off his approach by running 31:43.

Ethiopian women accomplished a 1-2-3 sweep in the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday, while Ethiopian Dereje Abera Ali finished less than a second behind winner Laban Moiben of Kenya in the men’s field.

Ali later said he could have overtaken Moiben had he not paused at a chip-timing mat extended across the roadway some 50 yards from the finish line.

“I thought that was the finish line,” he said of the mat, shaking his head in disappointment after viewing a video replay of the marathon finish. Moiben’s winning time was 2:10:17.9. Ali finished in 2:10:18:8. Dino Sefir Kemal of Ethiopia was third in 2:10:57.5.

Kebebush Haile Lema won the women’s division of the marathon in 2:32:14, followed by Biruktawit Eshetu Degefa in 2:33:14 and Radiya Adilo Roba in 2:36:58. Lema received a $20,000 payout, with Degefa garnering $12,000 as the runner-up and Roba taking $10,000 for finishing third.

Most of the event’s drama occurred Saturday evening, when the stars came out amid threatening skies and humid conditions that neutralized a new course intended to produce fast times.

Merga had run 27:24 in 2009 to win and set a record over the old course. Last year he finished third in 28:41 to his designated pacemaker, Lelisa Desisa, and Moroccan Mohamed El Hachimi.

This year Merga was the lone Ethiopian elite male in the 10K field, and he had little competition in mostly running alone and beginning to overtake elite women just beyond five kilometers.

Tune ran an evenly paced race and gradually separated from the women’s elite field that included 2004 Olympian Ejegayehu Dibaba, who finished third in 32:57. Second was Samira Raif of Morocco in 32:47.

Ethiopia claimed four of the top six women’s 10K spots, with Aziza Aliyu finishing fifth in 33:50 and Alemtsehay Misganaw running 33:57 for sixth-place.

Tune was the lone star at the post-race news conference, as Merga demurred.

“I am very happy I beat the guys,” said Tune. “I really thought they would catch up to me. Somehow, I beat them.”

It was the second time in as many years Tune finished ahead of the top-male.

Dire Tune, flanked by her manager and an interpreter, gives post-race interviews.

Deriba Merga signs WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) documents, declining post race interviews.

Merga Mourns His “Best Friend,” Kenya’s Wanjiru

Meanwhile, a dejected Merga declined interviews. For nearly 30 minutes after the race he sat with his head in his hands on a concrete slab in the designated elite runners’ area just off the finish line.

When asked what went wrong, Merga said he “expected to catch her” but the humidity made the race tough. The winner of the 10k, but loser of a race-within-the-race, Merga added he may have started too fast.

The next morning at brunch in the hotel that housed elite runners, Merga noted that he has been carrying a lot on his mind the past two weeks.

“Since Wanjiru died, I have been very saddened,” he said, speaking of the late Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya, a runner with whom Merga shared a 2008 Olympic Marathon stage that thrust both into the international spotlight. “He was my best friend, and I miss him. My sympathies go to his wife, mother and children.”

Wanjiru died May 15 in an apparent fall from the balcony of his home in Nayahururu, Kenya following a domestic dispute. Police are continuing an investigation into his death.

The Kenyan prevailed in a captivating, two-man battle with Merga through the streets of Beijing and in front of a worldwide TV audience during the event that cemented the bond between them. Wanjiru won Kenya’s first Olympic marathon gold medal that day, while Merga paid for his intense surges with and against his new friend and faded to a fourth-place finish that kept him off the podium at the medals presentation.

The morning after beginning the Ottawa 10K at world-record pace, Merga only smiled when asked if he had been thinking of his late friend.

“We have the same style,” he said of starting races fast, and doing periodic surges in an effort to break other runners. “He was a good, disciplined athlete. He was very tough.”

“After he died, for two days I cried,” said Merga, reflecting a deep respect between the two runners despite the fierce rivalry of their nations in athletics. “I did not eat. I did not train. I still cry.”
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More event photos: 37th annual Ottawa Race Weekend (All images courtesy of Jason Jett)

Merga acknowledges support from Radiya Adilo Roba, left with head covering, who finished third in
the marathon Sunday, as local fans take photos with the silent winner and other runners look on.

Dire Tune and Ejegayehu Dibaba Keneni.

Dire Tune approaches the finish line.

Dire Tune, Alemtsehay Misganaw, Deriba Merga and Ejegayehu Dibaba, the morning after doing battle
in the ottawa 10K.
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About the Author:
Jason Jett is a New York based freelance journalist.
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Featured, News

Sign of Spring: Ethiopian Runners Renew Domination of U.S. Road Races

March 23, 2011 Tadias Magazine 5 Comments

Above: Ezkyas Sisay (L), and Gebre Gebremariam (R) head
the field rounding a curve in Central Park early into the 2011
New York City Half Marathon – Photo credit: OhSnapper.com.

Tadias Magazine
By Jason Jett

Published: Wednesday, March 23, 2011

New York (Tadias) – Just as sure as March in North America brings the return of foliage, warm weather and long days, it signals the continuation of Ethiopian domination of foot-race competitions in city streets and parks across the United States.

The fickleness of spring, however, did prompt a number of “what ifs” from runners on both coasts last weekend.

Gebre Gebremariam, who last November won the ING New York City Marathon, was runner-up Sunday in the New York City Half Marathon which looped Central Park before coursing through Times Square and finishing in Lower Manhattan.

Gebremariam, a favorite to win the race, pulled away from Mo Farah, a native Somali who now lives in Great Britain, in the last 25 meters only for Farah to counter with a victorious sprint to the finish line. Farah finished the 13.1-mile event in 60:23, with Gebremariam two seconds back.

“I don’t like the cold,” Gebremariam said after the narrow loss to Farah, one of the hottest runners in the world the past year who was making his half-marathon debut.

Girma Tesfaye, an Ethiopian who splits residency between his homeland and the Bronx, NY, finished fourth in 60:35, and Ezkyas Sisay, an Ethiopian who trains in Flagstaff, AZ, was 10th in 61:56. Girma Tola, who was fifth in the 2008 competition, finished 14th this time in 62:46.

The only Ethiopian runner who said he did not mind the cold weather was Girma, who after the race chastised himself for not finding the reserve in the homestretch to overtake third-place finisher Galen Rupp of the United States.

“For me, the weather was very nice,” Girma said, noting a year ago he finished 10th at the event. “I like it cold. It was fantastic for me. The weather, and the course.”

From left: Ezkyas Sisay and Tesfaye Girma, both of Ethiopia, Gomes Dos Santos Marilson of Brazil, Alistair Cragg of Ireland, Galen Rupp of the United States, Mo Farah of Great Britain, Kigen Kipkosgei Moses of Kenya and Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia, near Mile 2 in Central Park during the New York City Half Marathon – which took place on a perfect day for running, March 20, 2011. (Photo credit: OhSnapper.com)

Ethiopians also represented in the women’s division of the NYC Half. Werknesh Kidane, Gebremariam’s wife and a pre-race favorite, finished fifth in 1:09:32, acknowledging afterwards that she was slowed as the first morning of spring mustered temperatures only in the 30s. Shewarge Alene, the sister of noted Ethiopian runner Alene Reta, was fourth in 1:09:25.

“It was good, but not very good because of the weather,” said Alene. “I am happy with the time in my first half-marathon in New York. I will keep training and keep trying to do my best.”

Gebremariam’s second-place finish was worth $10,000, while Girma earned $3,500 and Sisay $400. Alene was awarded $3,500, and Kidane $2,500.

Across the country in a rain-deluged Southern California, Ethiopians swept the Honda Los Angeles Marathon.

Markos Geneti, who trains in Flagstaff, AZ, was the overall winner in a course record 2:06:35. He won the first-place award of $25,000 and a Honda Insight EX car valued at $23,000, plus the $100,000 prize for the first person to cross the finish line under a gender challenge in which professional women were given a 17:03 head start.

The women’s division winner was Buzunesh Deba, who lives in the Bronx and trains in New Mexico, in 2:26:34. The bronze medal for third-place was claimed by Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia in 2:30:35. Deba won $25,000 and a car, while Dibaba won $10,000.

“I didn’t like the rain,” Deba said afterwards. “My husband (Ethiopian runner Worku Beyi) wanted me to run 2:24, but I don’t like running in the rain.”

At the Yeungling Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA, Alemtsehay Misganaw of Manhattan was runner-up Sunday in the half marathon, finishing the windy, waterfront course in 1:15:06. A day earlier Misganaw won the women’s division of the event’s 8K competition in 26:59. Misganaw’s weekend earnings totaled $2,000.

“It was funny,” Misganaw said of her runner-up finish in the feature event, adding she did not know whether to laugh or cry.

“The last two miles I was taking it kind of easy and a lady passed me, but I didn’t see her,” she explained. “It was windy, and my eyes were watery. She looked like a boy, and had on a cap. The race official leading the women’s field was riding his bike beside me the whole way. He didn’t see her either. He thought I was the first woman, too.

Misganaw continued, “At the finish line the announcer said, ‘Yesterday’s winner is second today,’ and I said ‘What?’ The bicycle guy was upset too, and apologized. I smiled, but wanted to cry. I told the winner, ‘You’re lucky,’ and she said, ‘I know.'”
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About the Author:
Jason Jett is a New York based freelance journalist. He writes on human interest stories as well as specialized reports for niche audiences on various subjects including sports and fitness. He has worked in the news business for thirty years.

Watch: 2011 New York City Half Marathon- Highlight Video (NYRR)

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