Tilahun Regassa wins Rotterdam marathon

ROTTERDAM (Apr 14) -- Ethiopia's Tilahun Regassa won the Rotterdam marathon on Sunday in a time of 2hr 05min and 37sec for the 23-year-old's first marathon victory.Regassa's time was more than a minute below the record in the Dutch port city of 2:04:27, set in 2009 by Kenya's Duncan Kibet Kirong.Ethiopia's Getu Feleke finished the 33rd Rotterdam marathon second, as he did in 2012, with a time of 2:06:46.Kenya's Sammy Kitwara came third with a time of 2:07:22.Winner Regassa made his marathon debut in Chicago last October.                                         Tilahun Regassa (Photo: SuperSport)
Kenenisa Defends Title at Great Ireland Run
(GreatIrelandRun) -- The legendary Kenenisa Bekele produced an awesome performance, despite gusting winds reaching 50 miles per hour, to comfortably defend his SPAR Great Ireland Run title in Dublin.

The Ethiopian on a day definitely not favouring fast times confidently coped with the conditions to win the 10km race in 28:51, well clear of Ukrainian Sergey Lebid and the winner's fellow countryman Ibrahim Jeilan who clocked 29:08 and 29:18 respectively.
Lauren Howarth, better known for her performances over shorter distances, claimed the women's crown in a much closer contest defeating fellow Britons, the defending champion Gemma Steel by 13sec with a time of 33:36 and Julia Bleasdale who finished in 33:53.

Bekele has never been beaten on Irish soil winning the World Cross Country long and short course title's there in 2002 and last year's SPAR Great Ireland Run in an All-Comers' record of 27:49, and this year was no different as he stood head-and-shoulders above his rivals at the Phoenix Park venue.

The 30-year-old and Jeilan who deprived Bekele of his World Championships 10,000m title in 2011, were at the front of the pack from the first kilometre towing them through and then passing 2km in 5:52.
Bekele running conservatively then stepped up the pace around 6km taking the highly rated Australian Collis Birmingham, Jeilan and Lebid well clear of the field, before unleashing his first real change of pace.
The speedy input after 21 minutes running saw the World 5,000m and 10,000m record holder open a gap of five metres with Birmingham , who finished an outstanding eighth in last month's World Cross Country and was the only opponent brave enough to try and track him down.
The Aussie paid the price though falling away and looked broken and exhausted after 8km as Bekele relentlessly forged even further ahead in his first race since losing his Olympic 10,000m title at last summer's London Games.
Indeed Birmingham's legs became so weary that Lebid flew by him at 9km followed by Jeilan, who also had a second wind, but neither was ever going to catch the world's greatest track and cross country athlete who had flown through the marker looking awesome.
"It's fantastic," said Bekele determined to make amends for his drop in form over the last couple of years, mainly with a serious calf injury. "I am so happy with my performance."
The multi-World Championships gold medallist determined to regain his title from Jeilan who has a "wildcard" entry in Moscow this summer, added: "Now I am slowly, slowly, getting better. This year will be a great year for me. In all championships I will do better." (April 13, 2013)

Haile Gebreselassie wins Vienna Half Marathon

Ethiopian distance star Haile Gebrselassie won his third consecutive Vienna half marathon on Sunday, timing one hour one minute and 14 seconds.Gebrselassie, a double Olympic 10,000 metres champion who turns 40 next week, took control of the race at the midway point.After crossing the line ahead of Kenya's Hosea Kipkemboi (1hr02.21) and Ethiopian Mekuant Ayenew (1hr02.21) he reflected: "It was a magnificent festival, with a golden public who didn't stop encouraging me."In March, Gebrselassie stated he was still in love with running and had no intention of retiring."As long as I enjoy it so much I will keep running and I don't know how and when this will finish," he said.He is scheduled to take part in a race in Bern on May 18 before defending his Great Manchester 10km Run title on May 26.His Vienna performance was outside his two previous winning times in 2011 and 2012, and well short of his best ever half marathon mark of 58 minutes 55 seconds set in Phoenix in 2006.