Firehiwot Tufa Dado (born January 9, 1984 in Assela, Arsi) is a female

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 exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

from Ethiopia, who won the New York City Marathon in 2011 with a personal best time of 2:23:15 hours. She also took three consecutive victories in the

Rome City Marathon The Rome Marathon is an annual marathon competition hosted by the city of Rome, Italy. History The competition has also doubled as the Italian Marathon championships on two occasions; in 1983 and 1986. The race date was shifted from the ...

Biography

She has also competed in 10K competitions and was the 2008 winner of the Casablanca Women's Run. She made her marathon debut that year at the Košice Peace Marathon and managed to finish as runner-up on her first attempt. She received a late-minute invitation to run the

in March 2009 and went on to surprise the field by winning the race in a time of 2:27:08 hours – over ten minutes faster than her previous best. Her second race over the distance that year came at the Frankfurt Marathon, where she again finished under two and a half hours to take fourth place. Firehiwot won the Boulogne-Billancourt Half Marathon in November with a course record time of 1:09:26 – the first time a woman had run under an hour and ten minutes at the race. She fell back in the second half the 2010 Mumbai Marathon, eventually taking fifth place, but returned to form at the Rome Marathon, where she defended her title in a best of 2:25:28 hours She set a previous personal best of 2:25:28 in the classic distance on March 21, 2010 in Rome, Italy. The 2010

Fifth Third River Bank Run The Amway River Bank Run is an annual road running race hosted by Amway in U.S. city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the month of May. The 25K run was created and first held in 1978 by Old Kent Bank as the Old Kent River Bank Run and continued under ...

saw her break the course record for the 25K race, beating

Joan Samuelson Joan Benoit Samuelson (born May 16, 1957) is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American wo ...

's time which had stood since 1986. She won the Florence Marathon that year, beating second-placed

Meseret Mengistu Meseret Mengistu Biru (born 6 March 1990) is an Ethiopian female long-distance runner who competes mainly in road running events. She holds a personal best of 2:23:26 hours for the marathon. She represented Ethiopia at the IAAF World Half Marat ...

by almost two minutes. Firehiwot took an unprecedented third straight title in Rome in 2011 and knocked over a minute off her best in the process, completing the race in 2:24:13 hours. She established herself among the world's foremost women marathon runners with a victory at the

2011 New York City Marathon The 2011 New York City Marathon was the 42nd running of the annual marathon race in New York City, United States, which took place on Sunday, November 6. Sponsored by ING Group, it was the final race of the 2010/11 World Marathon Majors series and ...

, where she held off

Buzunesh Deba Bizunesh Deba (born 8 September 1987), also known as ''Buzunesh Deba'', is a Bronx-based Ethiopian long-distance runner. Her personal best for the marathon is 2:19:59, set during the Boston Marathon in 2014. A prolific runner since 2009, she i ...

and

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 ...

to win in a time of 2:23:15 hours. She opened her 2012 season with a course record win at the

New York City Half Marathon The New York City Half Marathon (branded as the United Airlines NYC Half) is an annual half marathon road running race from Brooklyn's Prospect Park to Manhattan's Central Park via the Manhattan Bridge, held since 2006. It passes through o ...

, where she maintained a fast starting pace to hold off Kim Smith and set a new best of 1:08:35 hours. The

2012 Boston Marathon The 2012 Boston Marathon took place in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday April 16, 2012. It was the 116th edition of the mass-participation marathon. Organized by the Boston Athletic Association, it was the first of the World Marathon Majors seri ...

was undertaken in warm conditions and she managed fourth place behind a Kenyan trio. She won the 2014 Prague Marathon in a time of 2:23:34 as six Ethiopians finished in the top six in the women's competition.

Achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dado, Firehiwot 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Oromia Region Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners New York City Marathon female winners