 Aberu at the2015 Berlin Marathon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 12 September 1989 (1989-09-12) (age 35) Shewa, Ethiopia | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Aberu Kebede Shewaye (born 12 September 1989) is an Ethiopianlong-distance runner who specializes inroad running competitions. Herhalf marathon best of 1:07:39 is one of the fastest ever by an Ethiopian woman. She gained bronze at the2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships with the performance and has won at theBerlin Marathon,Stramilano Half Marathon and theRotterdam Marathon. She has amarathon best of 2:20:30 hours.
Born inShewa, Ethiopia, she made her first appearances incross country running. Having come third in the junior race at the 2007Jan Meda Cross Country International,[1] she qualified for the2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she finished 16th in the junior women's race.[2] She was fourth at the 2008Women First 5K inAddis Ababa.[3]
She won theStramilano Half Marathon in April 2009 and, pleased at having set a course record and personal best of 1:08:43, she turned her attention to the Ethiopian Championships.[4] She scored a national title in the10,000 metres at the Ethiopian Athletics Championships in May, beatingMamitu Daska andWerknesh Kidane to the domestic honours.[5] Later that month, she ran at theWorld 10K Bangalore and was beaten by a few seconds, eventually finishing in third.[6] She improved her 10,000 m best inUtrecht in June, setting a time of 30:48.26.[7] She was selected for the2009 World Championships in Athletics, but ultimately did not compete.
Aberu ran at theWomen's 5K Challenge inLondon and took third again in another close finish.[8] Running at her first senior championships, she led withMary Keitany for much of the2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. Eventually Keitany broke away and Aberu ended up with a bronze after losing out on a sprint finish againstPhiles Ongori. Still, she managed to improve her best to a time of 1:07:39 and lead the Ethiopian women to the team silver medal.[9] This time made her the second fastest Ethiopian woman over the distance afterDire Tune.[10] In November, she finished in 1:07:59 for third at theDelhi Half Marathon, again behind Keitany who broke the course record.[11]
Aberu opened the year with a debut over the marathon distance. At theDubai Marathon she was beaten by Mamitu Daska to theUS$250,000 prize pot, but she still managed second place on her debut, recording a time of 2:24:26.[12] She made a strong start to the 2010Rotterdam Marathon and never relinquished the lead, winning in a time of 2:25:25.[13] She led theBerlin Marathon with a front-running performance, beating fellow EthiopianBezunesh Bekele to win the race. She set a new best time of 2:23:58 and ran the second half of the race faster than her first, crossing the line a minute ahead of the opposition.[14] She was out-done in a sprint finish at theDelhi Half Marathon in November, taking fourth place four seconds behind race winnerAselefech Mergia.[15] She topped the podium at the 2011Lisbon Half Marathon, beatingAna Dulce Felix to the line.[16] At that year'sLondon Marathon she was among the leading runners but was overtaken by a number of rivals in the latter stages and ended up in ninth place.[17]
The 2012Dubai Marathon saw her run a personal best of 2:20:33 to move into the top twenty fastest women ever, although the high quality of the race meant she finished in fifth place overall.[18][19] A sixth-place finish at the2012 London Marathon followed and she narrowly missed out on a spot on the Olympic team with her run of 31:09.28 for fifth at the 10,000 m trial at thePrefontaine Classic. She topped the podium at the2012 Berlin Marathon and reduced her personal best by three further seconds.[20] Her year ended with wins at theGreat Ethiopian Run and theEthiopian Clubs Cross Country Championships.[21][22]
She won the2013 Tokyo Marathon, her first race of the year, and was six seconds off the course record in windy conditions.[23]
| Event | Time (h:m:s) | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 metres | 30:48.26 | Utrecht, Netherlands | 14 June 2009 |
| 10 kilometres | 31:05 | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 11 October 2009 |
| 20 kilometres | 1:03:57 | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 11 October 2009 |
| Half marathon | 1:07:39 | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 11 October 2009 |
| Marathon | 2:20:30 | Berlin, Germany | 30 September 2012 |
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | World Cross Country Championships | Mombasa, Kenya | 16th | Junior race | Individual |
| 2009 | World Half Marathon Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 3rd | Half marathon | Individual |
| 2nd | Half marathon | Team | |||
| 2013 | World Championships | Moscow, Russia | 13th | Marathon | Individual |
