ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – Over 32,000 residents of Addis Ababa took part in the 8th Annual Great Ethiopian Run today.
The 10,000 meter road race is organized by Ethiopia’s long distance legend Haile Gebreselassie in partnership with Toyota.
Chala Dechasa won in the men’s field at 28:54:47 today. In the women’s field, Wude Ayalew won for the second time this year at 33:31:15.
Some of the runners where heard chanting ‘Free Teddy Afro’ and anti-Woyanne regime slogans as they passed by government offices.
More from AFP:
ADDIS ABABA – Unheralded Chala Dechassa on Sunday won the men’s Great Ethiopian Run, an annual race in Addis Ababa which has revealed some of the world’s greatest long-distance runners.
The 22-year-old clocked 28 minutes 55 seconds to outrun over 32,000 participants, clinching a surprise win over race favourite Deriba Merga, who set the course record in 2006.
‘This victory will provide a platform for my future success. It was very important and I’m very happy,’ he told AFP shortly after crossing the finish line.
Track legend and current marathon record-holder Haile Gebrselassie predicted a new star was born.
‘It was a major surprise, he’s certainly one for the future,’ he said.
Chala had shown a glimpse of his form when he finished second in the Amsterdam marathon last month.
Favourite Deriba Merga, who took fourth in the Beijing Olympics’ marathon, could only manage third on Sunday, 16 seconds off the pace.
Wude Ayalew, 20, kept her crown in the women’s race with a time of 33 minutes and 31 seconds.
The 2008 edition was marred by reported terrorist threats in the capital which prompted the US and Dutch governments to advise their citizens against taking part in the race.
The annual race, regarded as a key stepping stone for Ethiopian athletes, has been held since 2001. Past winners include Gebrselassie and the women’s current Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba.
More from ENA in Amharic:
የታላቁ ሩጫ ውድድር ለስምንተኛ ጊዜ በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ተካሄደ
አዲስ አበባ, ህዳር 14 ቀን 2001 (አዲስ አበባ) – በኢትዮጵያ የታላቁ ሩጫ ውድድር ዛሬ ለስምንተኛ ጊዜ በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ተካሄደ። በሴቶች ዉዴ አያሌው ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ በተከታታይ የውድድሩ አሸናፊ ሆናለች።
መነሻና መድረሻውን መስቀል አደባባይ በማድረግ በተከናወነው የ10 ኪሎ ሜትር ውድድር 32ሺህ ሰዎችና ከአዲስ አበባ ክለቦች 480 አትሌቶች መሳተፋቸውን የውድድሩ አዘጋጆች ገልጸዋል።
በውድድሩ በሴቶች የአምናዋ አሸናፊ ዉዴ አያሌው በ33ደቂቃ ከ31ነጥብ 25 ሰከንድ ቀዳሚ ሆና ስትገባ፣ወርቂቱ አያኖ በ33ደቂቃ ከ34ነጥብ 01 ሰከንድ ሁለተኛና ጠይባ ኤርኬሶ ደግሞ በ33ደቂቃ ከ56ነጥብ49ሰከንድ በመግባት ሦስተኛ ወጥተዋል።
በወንዶች መካከል በተከናወነው ውድድር ጫላ ደቻሳ በ28ደቂቃ ከ54ነጥብ47 ሰከንድ ቀድሞ ሲገባ፣ፈይሳ ሌሊሳ በ29ደቂቃ ከስድስት ነጥብ 37 ሰከንድ፣ድሪባ መርጋ በ29ደቂቃ ከዘጠኝ ነጥብ87 ሰከንድ በመግባት ሁለተኛና ሦስተኛ ሆነዋል።
በአምባሳደሮች መካከል በተደረገው ውድድር በሴቶች በኢትዮጵያ የፖርቱጋል አምባሳደር ቬራ ፈርናንዴዝ፣በወንዶች ደግሞ በኢትዮጵያ የኖርዌይ አምባሳደር የንስ ፒተር ኬምፕሩድ አንደኛ በመውጣት ጨርሰዋል።
በውድድሩ አንደኛ ለወጡት የ25ሺህ ብር፣ሁለተኛ ለሆኑት የ15ሺህ ብርና ሦስተኛ ለወጡት ደግሞ የ10 ሺህ ብር ሽልማት ተቀብለዋል።
በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ በየዓመቱ የሚደረገው ታላቁ ሩጫ በአፍሪካ ከሚካሄዱት የጎዳና ውድድሮች ሁሉ ሕዝብ በብዛት በመሳተፍ ቀዳሚ መሆኑ ይነገራል።