Dire Tune Arissi (pronounced "Deer-ay Too-nay";[1]Ge'ez: ዲሬ ቱኔ, born 19 June 1985) is an Ethiopian professionallong-distancerunner.
Tune competed in themarathon at the2005 World Championships. At the2006 World Road Running Championships she finished fourth in the individual competition. This was good enough to help Ethiopia win asilver medal in the team competition.
On April 21, 2008, Tune won theBoston Marathon with a time of 2:25:25. She was then selected to represent her country in the marathon at the2008 Summer Olympics, and was the only Ethiopian to finish, placing 15th in a time of 2:31:16. In April 2009, Tune finished second by one second in the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:32:17. After finishing the race, she collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. Her agent said the problem was due in part to dehydration combined with the cool weather and the fact that she trained for a shorter race.
Dire Tune holds theOne Hour runningworld record of 18.517 kilometres set June 12, 2008 inOstrava. The previous record (18,340 m) was set byTegla Loroupe ten years earlier.[2]
Tune won the 2009Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, setting the Ethiopianhalf marathon record of 1:07:18. The previous national record (1:08:07) was set byBezunesh Bekele in 2007 inUdine.[3]
She won the 2010Ottawa 10K race in 32:11 in late May, becoming the first woman to finish ahead of the men's winner in the mixed gender race where the men's section begins four minutes after the women.[4] She ran at theBogota Half Marathon in August and finished as runner-up, some six seconds behind winnerShewarge Amare.[5] TheFrankfurt Marathon followed in November and she improve her personal best by almost a minute, running 2:23:44 for the runner-up spot behindCaroline Kilel.[6]
She started the 2011 season with a win at theEthiopian 15K Championships, beatingAtsede Habtamu at the line.[7] She ran at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon a few days later and was the runner-up, albeit some minutes behind a world record-breakingMary Keitany.[8] She came close to winning theWorld's Best 10K race inPuerto Rico two weeks later, but was edged into second bySentayehu Ejigu.[9] She topped the podium at theWorld 10K Bangalore, pippingMerima Mohammed at the line.[10] She ran the marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea. Despite running the first 13 miles in the lead pack, she was disqualified after consuming a drink from an unknown person in the crowd, which is against IAAF rules.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Ethiopia | |||||
| 2005 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 37th | Marathon | 2:39:13 |
| 2006 | World Road Running Championships | Debrecen, Hungary | 4th | 20 km | 1:05:16 |
| 2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | — | Marathon | DNF |
| 2008 | Boston Marathon | Boston, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:25:25 |
| Olympic Games | Beijing, PR China | 15th | Marathon | 2:31:16 | |
| 2009 | World Championships | Berlin, Germany | 23rd | Marathon | 2:32:42 |
| 2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | — | Marathon | DSQ |
