Ethiopian Abera Sets 5+ Minute PR To Win Dubai Marathon In 2:04:24

Ethiopian Abera Sets 5+ Minute PR To Win Dubai Marathon In 2:04:24

If you missed Friday’s Dubai Marathon, that’s probably because you were in bed since it was late Thursday here in the States. It was, however, worth skippin

Jan 22, 2016 by Lincoln Shryack
Ethiopian Abera Sets 5+ Minute PR To Win Dubai Marathon In 2:04:24
If you missed Friday’s Dubai Marathon, that’s probably because you were in bed since it was late Thursday here in the States. It was, however, worth skipping a few winks of sleep to watch this pancake-flat spectacle in the ritzy U.A.E. city, as both the men’s and women’s races stayed true to years-past form by yielding big PRs to a haul of Ethiopians.

In a massive upset, and a continuation of recent men’s race history that has seen an unheralded Ethiopian win in Dubai now five years running, completely unknown 23-year-old Tesfaye Abera took his prior 2:09:46 PR and sent it to the shredder with a redonculous 5:22 improvement to win in 2:04:24. About the only thing that wasn’t the best thing ever about it for Abera was that he came up a meager one second short of the course record, but again, he PR’d by FIVE MINUTES and oh yeah the $200k helps too. From anonymous to the 10th fastest man in history, not a bad day’s work for Abera.

The women’s race was significantly more predictable in that pre-race favorite and past champion Tirfi Tsegaye delivered with a resounding victory in 2:19:41, tying 13th best in history. It wasn’t quite an Abera-level PR (an unrealistic measure, to be fair), but considering that she entered with the 21st fastest all-time, a 37-second improvement is still impressive. She, too, missed the course record (by 10 seconds), but she too can spend away her worries with a $200k check. Oh, and she won by a gigantic margin, 1:07 clear of runner-up Amane Beriso in 2:20:48. It was great day for the 25-year-old Beriso, too, as her time is the fifth-fastest debut in history. 

The men’s race set out in a seemingly foolish, if not suicidal World record pace, but remarkably the pack kept it going all the way through 30k after hitting halfway in a by-no-means-sustainable 1:01:39. When the pack did in fact hit 30k, at 1:27:21, a whopping six men simultaneously broke the world record for the distance by a crazy 16-seconds, and at that point I’m pretty sure but not certain that Dennis Kimetto had to set the champagne down and watch nervously as this group was mounting a decent charge at sub-2:03. The bubbly pouring was on hold.

Not for long though. The wheels started coming off by 32k and just a few minutes later, the 2:02:57 chase was off. Kimetto laughed and went on with his champagne-filled day. Even so, the race was on at this point, with defending champion Lemi Berhanu making a strong move right as the clock struck two hours. This looked decisive.

It wasn’t. Abera burned him in the final stretch as Berhanu paid for his eagerness a few minutes earlier, giving no response when the soon-to-be champ blew past him. A 2:04:33 PR— nearly a minute faster than his winning time from a year ago— isn’t too bad of a consolation prize for the 21-year-old Berhanu.


The Ethiopian men had the first six finishers, with the women taking up the first five spots in an event that has been dominated by the East African nation.