Aberu Kebede Shewaye (born 12 September 1989) is an Ethiopian

long distance runner Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

who specializes in

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

competitions. Her

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

best of 1:07:39 is one of the fastest ever by an Ethiopian woman. She gained a bronze at the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships with the performance and has won at the

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (german: Berlin-Marathon, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , inclu ...

Stramilano Half Marathon The Stramilano is an annual athletics event which takes place in Milan, Italy in spring. The event comprises three parts: the Stramilano International Half Marathon (a professional road running competition over 21.0975 km), the La Stramilano d ...

and the

Rotterdam Marathon The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. ...

. She has a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

best of 2:20:30 hours.

Career

Born in

Shewa Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian language, Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous monarchy, kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The ...

, Ethiopia, she made her first appearances in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

. Having come third in the junior race at the 2007 Jan Meda Cross Country International, she qualified for the

2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2007. The races were held at the Mombasa Golf Course in Mombasa, Kenya. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encom ...

, where she finished in 16th in the junior women's race. She was fourth at the 2008 Women First 5K in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

. She won the

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. She scored a national title in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at the Ethiopian Athletics Championships in May, beating Mamitu Daska and

Werknesh Kidane Werknesh Kidane (; born November 21, 1981), is an Ethiopian long distance runner from Tigray who competes in both 5000 and 10,000 metres. She has won numerous medals at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and represented Ethiopia at the S ...

to the domestic honours. Later that month, she ran at the

World 10K Bangalore The World 10K Bengaluru (known as the TCS World 10K Bengaluru for sponsorship reasons by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)) is an annual 10 kilometres road running competition which takes place in Bangalore, India. The competition was first ...

and was beaten by a few seconds, eventually finishing in third. She improved her 10,000 m best in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

in June, setting a time of 30:48.26. She was selected for the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, but ultimately did not compete. Aberu ran at the

Women's 5K Challenge A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and took third again in another close finish. Running at her first senior championships, she led with

Mary Keitany Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born 18 January 1982) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. She is the world record holder in a women-only marathon, having won the 2017 London Marathon in a time of 2:17:01. As of November 2022, she plac ...

for much of the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. Eventually Keitany broke away and Aberu ended up with a bronze after losing out on a sprint finish against

Philes Ongori Philes Moora Ongori (born 19 July 1986 in Chironge, Kiamokama, in Kisii District) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in half marathon and marathon events. Her early career was based in Japan and she won a number of All-Japan Corpor ...

. Still, she managed to improve her best to a time of 1:07:39 and lead the Ethiopian women to the team silver medal. This time made her the second fastest Ethiopian woman over the distance after Dire Tune. In November, she finished in 1:07:59 for third at the

Delhi Half Marathon Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) is an annual half marathon foot-race held in New Delhi, India. Established in 2005, it is both an elite runner and mass participation event. It is an AIMS-certified course and is listed as a Gold Label Road Rac ...

, again behind Keitany who broke the course record. Aberu opened the year with a debut over the marathon distance. At the

Dubai Marathon The Dubai Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since 1998. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics. History Initial era The inaugural Dubai Marathon was held ...

she was beaten by Mamitu Daska to the

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

250,000 prize pot, but she still managed second place on her debut, recording a time of 2:24:26. She made a strong start to the 2010

and never relinquished the lead, winning in a time of 2:25:25. She led the

with a front-running performance, beating fellow Ethiopian Bezunesh 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. She was out-done in a sprint finish at the

in November, taking fourth place four seconds behind race winner

Aselefech Mergia Aselefech Mergia Medessa ( Oromo: ''Asallafach Margaa Mardaasaa''; Amharic: አሰለፈች መርጊያ; born 23 January 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. She was a bronze medallist in the event at the 2009 ...

. She topped the podium at the 2011

Lisbon Half Marathon EDP Lisbon Half Marathon is an annual international half marathon competition which is contested every March in Lisbon, Portugal. It carries IAAF Gold Label Road Race status. The men's course record of 57:31 was set by Jacob Kiplimo in 2021, whi ...

, beating Ana Dulce Felix to the line. At that year's

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

she was among the leading runners but was overtaken by a number of rivals in the latter stages and ended up in ninth place. The 2012

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. A sixth-place finish at the 2012 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 the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University o ...

. She topped the podium at the 2012 Berlin Marathon and reduced her personal best by three further seconds. Her year ended with wins at the

Great Ethiopian Run The Great Ethiopian Run ( am, ታላቁ ሩጫ በኢትዮጵያ) is an annual 10-kilometre road running event which takes place in late November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Overview The competition was first envisioned by neighbors Ethiopian runn ...

and the

Ethiopian Clubs Cross Country Championships Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts o ...

. She won the

2013 Tokyo Marathon The 2013 Tokyo Marathon ( ja, 東京マラソン 2013) was the seventh edition of the annual marathon race in Tokyo, Japan and was held on Sunday, 24 February. An IAAF Gold Label Road Race, it was the first World Marathon Majors event to be hel ...

, her first race of the year, and was six seconds off the course record in windy conditions.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

Competition record

Road race wins

: 2009 *

: 2010 *

: 2012 *

: 2016

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kebede, Aberu 1989 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Frankfurt Marathon female winners Tokyo Marathon female winners World Athletics record holders 20th-century Ethiopian women 21st-century Ethiopian women