Berhane Adere Debala ( Ge'ez: ብርሀኔ አደሬ born 21 July 1973 in

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

) is an Ethiopian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

who specialises 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 ra ...

and the

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 shortcut ...

. She was world champion over 10,000 m in 2003 and world champion in the half marathon in 2002. Berhane works for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

as a

goodwill ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

for girls' education. Berhane held the African record for

in a time of 30:04.18, set at the 2003 World Championships, where she won

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

. The African record was broken at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba ( om, Xirunesh Dibaabaa, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 June 1985) is an Ethiopian athlete who competed in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medals ...

, who became the first African to run under 30 minutes. Berhane won the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2002, and the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...

in the 2001 World Half Marathon Championships. She was the gold medallist over

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

at the

2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK from 14 to 16 March 2003. It was the first time the Championships had been held in the UK. There were a total number of 589 participa ...

. She won the 2006

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

with a personal best time of 2:20:42. She won the Chicago Marathon again in 2007 and the Dubai Marathon on 18 January 2008. Berhane also won the 2007

Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. History The first event, in 2007, saw Samuel Wanjiru breaking the world record A world record is usually the best global and most important ...

. She was the top female finisher in the 2010

Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon The Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon & 1/2 Marathon is an annual international road running marathon hosted by New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, since 1965. It is part of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series organized by Advanc ...

, in which she recorded the fastest ever

on American soil with a time of 1:07:52, breaking her previous best by over 25 seconds. At age 36, that should also be the Masters world record. She saw off a challenge from

Ana Dulce Félix Ana Dulce Ferreira Félix (born 23 October 1982) is a Portuguese long distance runner who competes in track, cross country, and road running events. She ran the Olympic marathon in 2012 and 2016 and placed 21st and 16th, respectively.

to win at the Great North Run in September, completing the half marathon in 1:08:49. In 2012, she had two races, both in October in Britain, where she was runner-up at the

Great Birmingham Run The Great Birmingham Run is an annual half marathon road running event held in Birmingham, UK in October. Formerly known as the Birmingham Half Marathon, from 2011 it became part of the Great Run series of road races. Established in 2008, it i ...

and third at the

Great South Run The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 199 ...

References

External links

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Berhane Adere in the half marathon in Rotterdam 2007
- From Ethiopian Running Blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Berhane Adere 1973 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Half Marathon Championships winners Chicago Marathon female winners UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games