Former Olympic champion leads Ethiopian team in Obudu

One of the world’s best long distance runners, Meseret Defar, will lead a strong contingent of Ethiopian runners to next week’s Obudu International Mountain Race, and the first African mountain running championships.

Getting the best

Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the Obudu Mountain Race, William Archibong, revealed that Defar, a former world and Olympic champion in the women’s 5,000m, is amongst the 76 elite athletes who have been confirmed for the race.

“I am happy to announce to you that we have succeeded in getting one of the most accomplished long distance runners of our generation, Meseret Defar, to sign on for the Obudu International Mountain Race. She will also lead the Ethiopian challenge for the first African mountain running championships title,” he said.

The petite Ethiopian, together with fellow country woman, Tirunesh Dibaba, has turned the 5,000m and 10,000m into Ethiopian property, and still holds the world indoor records in 5,000m, 3,000m and two mile run.

A champion’s exploits

“Meseret won the 5,000m gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and won the world title in the same event a year later in Helsinki, Finland, at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. She also retained the 5,000m gold at the Osaka IAAF World Championships. She won gold in the 3,000m at the 2004 (Budapest), 2006 (Moscow) and 2008 (Valencia) editions,” said Archibong who has been the head of the LOC for the international race since the inaugural edition in 2005.

The Ethiopian set a new world record of 8:23.72 in the 3,000m at an indoor meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on February 2 and was also voted the IAAF Female Athlete of the Year in 2007.

Meseret began the 2009 athletics season by improving upon her personal bests, setting a new 5,000m world indoor record of 14:24.37 and an indoor world best over two miles (3.2 km) with a 9:06.26 run. She competed in the 10,000m event at the British national trials in July, attempting to take a spot on the Ethiopian team at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.

In spite of the wet and windy conditions, she ran a personal best of 29:59.20 minutes – breaking Paula Radcliffe’s UK all-comers’ record, becoming the fifth woman to run sub-30 minutes, and earning qualification for the championships in the process.

In the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Meseret was leading the Women’s 10,000m but she eventually finished fifth with a time of 0:52.37, while she won a bronze medal in the Women’s 5,000m.

The scenery

This year’s race will still hold at the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obudu Cross River State. About 45 minutes drive from Obudu town, the ranch has in addition to a cable, which brings guests from the base of the camp, a helipad and small airport. At the foot of the hill is a world- class water park with high quality swimming facilities.

With prize money of $50,000, the Obudu event is the highest paying mountain race in the world.