Little-known 20-year-old Lemi Berhanu Hayle of Ethiopia and his compatriot Aselefech Mergia, a 30-year-old returning to racing after having a baby, were the unlikely winners of the 2015 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on Friday.
Hayle led an Ethiopian sweep in the men’s race, crossing the finish line in 2hr 05min 28sec to win by 24 seconds ahead of 2013 Dubai and Boston champion Lelisa Desisa. Deribe Robi with a time of 2:06:06 was third.
In a spectacular women’s race, Mergia finished just one second ahead of Kenya’s Gladys Cherono with a time of 2:20:02. Kenyan Lucy Kabuu finished third in 2:20:21.
Unexpected
Few expected Hayle to be the champion, including the man himself. In fact, he did not even figure in the list of contenders for the event, especially with Ethiopian superstar Kenenisa Bekele involved. Bekele had to drop out after the 30km mark owing to hamstring problems in both his legs.
“I never would have thought I could win this race. It was my dream to do this in Dubai one day, but I didn’t expect it to happen this year. With around one kilometre to go, I sensed that I could win and went for it,” said Hayle.
When Gulf News asked what is he planning to do with the whopping $200,000 he received as prize money. Hayle said: “I never thought about the money. I really don’t know what I will do with it.”
Having finished ahead of the biggest names in long distance running, he has another dream: “If my federation selects me then I would really like to run the marathon in the World Championships in the summer.”
For women’s champion Mergia, who gave birth 18 months ago, it was a victory against the odds. She also took the Dubai title in 2011 and 2012.
Run for daughter
“I was focused on winning here again. I told my daughter that I will do it for her, though she was not big enough to understand what I said. Tonight I will celebrate this victory with my daughter,” said Mergia, who also pocketed a winner’s purse of $200,000.
“I used the prize money from my previous two victories here to build a hotel. Now I will complete the job.”
A record 33,000 runners took part in the Dubai Marathon, the 10km Road Race and the 4km Fun Run, with thousands of spectators cheering for the runners from the start at 7am.
Many Ethiopians had come with placards supporting Bekele and were shocked to see him miss out.
Bekele’s coach Renato Canova said: “When I saw him running today he did not look relaxed, he looked tight, which is why he developed hamstring problems. But I remain very confident for his future marathon career — I think he will do really well.”
However, the biggest drama of the day was in the women’s race. As soon as it began, little-known runner Tigist Tufa representing Bahrain took off at a brisk pace.
She led the group by a minute at 20km, but by the 34km mark she was brought back into the pack led by Aselefech and Kenyan pair Lucy Wangui Kabbu and Cherono.
In the men’s 10km event, Fikad Kibreab of Eritrea won in 29min 56sec, with compatriot Habtom Welderufael two seconds behind and Morocco’s Ihya Bin Yousuf third in 30:18.
Ruqiya Alkhaja of the UAE took the women’s 10km title in 30:47, while Eritrea’s Rahma Abas was second in 37:46 and Latifa Essarokh of France third at 37:47.
