In a stunning marathon debut, 18-year-old Tsegaye Mekonnen of Ethiopia won the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on Fri., Jan. 24 in 2:04:32, a world junior best for the distance.

The Middle East’s biggest mass participation athletic event, the race began at a torrid clip with the early splits faster than the world record pace of Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang when he set the world record of 2:03:23 in Berlin last September.

A big group of 20 athletes passed 10 kilometers in 29:14 and reached the halfway mark in 61:37. But the pace dropped as the temperature rose in the second half of the race and chances of a new world record soon slipped away.

A leading group of nine runners was reduced to six after 30 kilometers, reached in 1:28:15. At that point Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola surged ahead, and only his countrymen Mekonnen and Markos Geneti were able to stay with him. Tola gestured to them, requesting that they help him maintain the pace, but they declined.

The teenager Mekonnen made his move shortly after 35K, running kilometer splits of 2:51, 2:52 and 2:54 over the next three kilometers to move well clear. Geneti would finish second in 2:05:13, about 41 seconds behind. Tola was passed by Girmay Birhanu in the closing stages, with Birhanu finishing third in 2:05:49 and Tola fourth in 2:06:17.

After the race, Mekonnen said, “The pace was changing a lot during the first half, which was quite tough. I think I could have run faster with an even pace.

“But I am, of course, very happy and proud of my performance. I had no idea about the world junior record, so this is a bonus for me.”

Eight Ethiopians finished in the top 10 in the men’s race in Dubai, and the Ethiopian women were even more dominant as they swept the first nine positions in the women’s race. It was also the eighth consecutive year an Ethiopian woman had won the Dubai Marathon.

Mula Seboka, 29, was the upset winner, running 2:25:01 to outdistance the two favorites, Meselech Melkamu and Meseret Hailu, and the rest of a very deep, talented field.

She ran strongly from the gun, leading a large group of women at the front, although the pace was slower than expected as the lead pack reached the halfway mark in 1:14:03.

It wasn’t until 35 kilometers that there was a significant increase in tempo, as Seboka surged with only Melkamu and Firehiwott Dado able to stay with her. Dado fell back at 37 kilometers and Melkamu lost contact a kilometer later.

Melkamu would finish second in 2:25:23 and Dado third in 2:25:53.

“When the three of us were together,” Seboka said after the race, “I thought Dado and Melkamu would be stronger than me, but at 35 kilometers I still felt strong and I realized I had a chance. They did not look that good anymore and I increased the pace again.”

Dubai offers the winners one of the biggest paydays in road racing, and Mekonnen and Seboka each collected $200,000 for their victories.

Seboka said of her $200,000 first prize, “I will partly use this to support my parents and some poor people back home. I will have to speak to my husband about what we will do with the other part of it.”

Comments