{"id":1408,"date":"2012-02-05T03:26:23","date_gmt":"2012-02-05T09:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2012-02-05T03:26:23","modified_gmt":"2012-02-05T09:26:23","slug":"abera-wins-hong-kong-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/events\/hong-kong\/abera-wins-hong-kong-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Abera wins Hong Kong Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dereje<\/a>

Dereje Abera wins Hong Kong Marathon 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Losing a marathon by one second last year taught Dejere Abera of Ethiopia a lesson that he put to good use this morning, when he won the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon \u2013 an IAAF Bronze Label event – by less than a second. Indeed so tight and exciting was the men\u2019s finish that Eliud Cheptei in second place shared Dejere\u2019s winning time of 2.11.27, while two more Kenyans, Cosmas Kyeva and Julius Maisei were just one second each further back.<\/p>\n

Dejere improved the long standing course record by one minute and 42sec, but his colleague, Misiker Demissie took pride of place in that department when her runaway victory in the women\u2019s race, in 2.30.12, took all of three and a half minutes from last year\u2019s course record.<\/p>\n

Given the tough course here, and the inevitable humidity, around 90% at one stage, albeit with reasonable temperatures of 16-19C (61-66F), the times were never going to be of the order of last week\u2019s Dubai record breaking spree. But, like Dubai this was another Ethiopian double header to relish, and remind the Kenyans that they\u2019re not going to get all their own way in Olympic year.<\/p>\n

The Hong Kong organisers eschew pacing, but with over a dozen men together at halfway, and eight still in contention past 35k, combined with some of the most clement conditions in race history, a men\u2019s record was always on the cards. And not before time some would say, Ethiopian Belay Wolashe\u2019s 2.13.09 had lasted since the second edition of the event, in 1998.<\/p>\n

When the leading quartet broke away with 40k in sight, it was always Dereje who was forcing it from the front, mindful he said later of that one second defeat in Ottawa last year to Laban Moiben of Kenya. Dereje managed to get a 10 metres lead two or three times in the last kilometre, but though he was pulled back each time, and then balked by an errant cyclist on the last turn into the finish in Victoria Park, he never looked like losing at that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a problem,\u201d said an ebullient Dereje, though it wasn\u2019t clear whether he was talking of the cyclist or the three close pursuers, \u201cI knew by then I could win. This is my first time in Hong Kong, but I love it\u201d. And so he should, his win netted him $50,000 with five figure time bonuses.<\/p>\n

Though Cheptei shadowed him through the finish line, the Kenyan admitted he never felt he could win. \u201cHe was too strong, I was trying to go with him, but that was to make sure I stayed ahead of the third guy\u201d. Like several of his compatriots last year, Cheptei paid his own way here, but the $1500 investment paid off handsomely, when he picked up $20,000 and a share of the time bonus.<\/p>\n

There was more confusion over Misiker\u2019s change of name than her running tactics. It seems that the Ethiopian had an unhappy time running for Bahrain under the name of Teyba Naser and has reverted to a full Ethiopian name of Misiker Mekonnin Demissie, and has been living with husband Zereu Kelele in Albuquerque, New Mexico for some time.<\/p>\n

There was no debate about her victory though. She led from the start, and though she had colleague Shitaye Gemechu and Kenyan Winfred Nyansikera right behind until past halfway, when she accelerated at 30k, she ran right away from them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very hard course, and it was a little humid, but I thought I could win from 30k,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019d like to run Boston now (April), because last year I had to drop out. I\u2019d like to run in the Olympics eventually, but Ethiopia has many strong women. It will have to be the next one in Brazil\u201d.<\/p>\n

Both her pursuers had other problems, Shitaye finished with a one shoe full of blood from a toe injury, and Nyansikera had to stop for a vomiting fit. But Shitaye just managed to stay ahead to take second, 2.31.44, to Nyansikera\u2019s 2.31.47.<\/p>\n

RESULTS<\/p>\n

MEN<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dereje ABERA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.11.27 (record)
\n2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eliud CHEPTEI\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.11.27
\n3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cosmas KYEVA\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.11.28
\n4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julius MAISEI\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.11.28
\n5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George NGETICH\/KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.12.19
\n6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lilan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KIPROP\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.12.42
\n7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Haile HAJA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.12.43
\n8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nigussie CHALA ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.13.17
\n9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick KOECH\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.13.19
\n10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nelson ROTICH\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.13.33<\/p>\n

WOMEN<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Misiker DEMISSIE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0 2.30.12 (record)
\n2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shitaye GEMECHU\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0 2.31.44
\n3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Winfred NYANSIKERA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 2.31.47
\n4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KIM Kum-Ok\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DPR KOREA 2.32.48
\n5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Datu Zehara KEDIR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0 2.34.14
\n6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Viola BOR CHEPKETING\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 2.37.11
\n7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Goitetom HAFTU\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0 2.39.43
\n8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malika BENLAFKIR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MOR 2.41.22
\n9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mariia TSKAIA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KRG 2.49.41
\n10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 THI Bin Pham\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 VTN\u00a0 2.56.11<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Losing a marathon by one second last year taught Dejere Abera of Ethiopia a lesson that he put to good use this morning, when he won the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon \u2013 an IAAF Bronze Label event – by less than a second. Indeed so tight and exciting was the men\u2019s finish that Eliud […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,18,26,1],"tags":[91,296,343,455,578],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ethiopia","category-featured","category-hong-kong","category-news","tag-91","tag-dejere-abera","tag-ethiopia","tag-hong-kong","tag-marathon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}