18 year old wins Dubai Marathon in 2:04

18 year old Tsegaye Mekonnen Asefa from Ethiopia won the Dubai Marathon today in an amazing time of 2:04:32. This was a world junior best for the Marathon distance although the IAAF does not have a world junior record for this distance. The previous best was by Kenya’s Eric Ndiema who ran 2:06:07 in the 2011 Amsterdam Marathon. His time was also just nine seconds outside the course record.

In the race, he was part of a large group of about 20 athletes who went through the halfway mark in 61:37. After the 35 kms mark, he put in km splits of 2:51, 2:52 and 2:54 to leave everyone behind and to finish first.

Mekonnen has a half marathon personal best of 1:02:53, and he also finished fifth in the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships 5000m. 

In a post race interview, he 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.”

First 5 men
1 Mekonnen Asefa, Tsegaye (ETH) 2:04:32
2 Geneti Guteta, Markos (ETH) 2:05:13
3 Birhanu Gebru, Girmay (ETH) 2:05:49
4 Tola Adera, Tamirat (ETH) 2:06:17
5 Bekele Molaign, Azmeraw (ETH) 2:07:12
First 5 women
1 Seboka Seyfu, Mula (ETH)     2:25:01
2 Melkamu Haileyesus, Meselech (ETH) 2:25:23
3 Dado Tufa, Firehiwot (ETH) 2:25:53
4 Hailu Debele, Meseret (ETH) 2:26:20
5 Moges Cherenet, Betelhem (ETH) 2:26:42