Ethiopia's Abera and Tsegaye Triumph at Dubai Marathon

Published by IAAF on January 22, 2016

There seems to be an unwritten rule of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon that it must be won by Ethiopians and that the men’s winner must be either a debutant or an underdog. At the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on Friday (22), everything went according to those rules.

There were 17 men on the start line with PBs faster than Tesfaye Abera. By the end of the race, the 23-year-old Ethiopian had the fastest PB of the entire field after winning in 2:04:24, just one second shy of the course record set by Ayele Abshero in 2012.

The women’s race also produced the second-fastest winning time in the history of the Dubai Marathon. Tirfi Tsegaye, the winner in 2013, regained her title with a PB of 2:19:41.