Dera Dida, Lelisa Desisa and former world record-holder Dennis Kimetto are among the entries for the event on Sunday January 12
If there’s such a thing as a First Family in athletics, then it has be the Tola-Dida clan from Ethiopia; and one of their favourite watering holes is the Dubai Marathon, whose quarter century is celebrated with Sunday morning’s event.
Reigning Olympic men’s champion Tamirat Tola won Dubai in 2017 (2:04:11), while spouse Dera Dida won in 2023 (2:21:11), on the same day that her brother-in-law, Tamirat’s younger sibling Abdisa, won the men’s title (2:05:42).
Tamirat went on to greater things, with a world championship silver medal in London later in 2017, then gold in the delayed world championship in Eugene 2022, a New York Marathon victory in 2023 and the Olympic crown last year. This time round, he has a far more important task, staying at home and minding their daughter.
Because bringing their daughter (even with a nanny) to last year’s Dubai race may have distracted Dera from a repeat victory, though she still finished third in 2:19:29, two minutes faster than the previous year; but she’s left hubby to do the domestic chores this time, and comes determined to win her second Dubai Marathon while Tamirat watches on TV back home on the outskirts of capital Addis Ababa.
As befits a First Family, only the best is good enough, and their training group has got to be one of if not the strongest in the world. Among her running partners are former marathon world record-holder and Olympic silver medallist Tigist Assefa as well as the current marathon world champion Amane Beriso.
“I don’t train with the group every day,” she said through an interpreter. “On a day to day basis, I train with Tamirat, but I join them occasionally. Since Tamirat won the Olympics, we’ve had a lot more media interest, but we try to concentrate on our running and not get too distracted.”
Well, her rivals (and compatriots) here in Dubai, Tigist Girma and Zeineber Yimer, already have plenty to distract her, given that their respective best times of 2:18:52 and 2:19:07 are better than hers (2:19:24), but not so much as to deter her. “I think I’m in shape to run the course record (2:16:07, set by another colleague, Tigist Ketema, last year). I hope that will be enough to win.”
Lelisa Desisa (Dubai Marathon)
Another return winner has equally high aspirations, although injuries have ploughed a broad furrow between Lelisa…
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