tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-359464892009-06-26T20:16:10.396-04:00Running Related News and Commentary from an Ethiopian perspective.roochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00125211435159381084noreply@blogger.comBlogger212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-85973346524967360932009-03-28T10:08:00.003-04:002009-03-28T10:33:13.697-04:00

There are some post you never wish you made. I wish I had not dismissed Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam's recent success so quickly. But again his performance of the last few years was so disappointing for a guy with so much talent. Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam ran a very very smart race. For a change it was fun watching him. I am happy to see him finally win a title that he has always been capable of

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-59676752672926756022009-03-28T01:17:00.002-04:002009-03-28T02:27:39.768-04:00

Here we are again. Another year another world cross championship. This may also be another year of excuses by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation. We have commented on the danger of EAF's overeliance on a handful of superstars rather than an organic approach to developing runners is dangerous in the long term. With Kenenisa and Tirunesh out with injury the EAF's approach will be tested at the

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-231342519206941172009-01-18T10:58:00.004-05:002009-01-18T11:33:52.414-05:00

I am getting to like this guy. Some may ridicule him for his collapses but one thing Deriba has going for him is that he runs his own race. Deriba is fun to follow because he does not settle for safe. He set an ambitious goal of 2:05 at the Houston Marathon. He was off his goal by more than 2 minutes but nonetheless set a course record.Deriba is different. While others were afraid of the heat in

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-43922415420227942182008-11-23T12:39:00.003-05:002008-11-23T12:50:35.006-05:00

A relative unknown Chala Dechassa won the Men's Great Ethiopian Run. While Wude Ayalew defended her title. Upto this point Chala Dechassa's only brush with fame was a surprising 3rd place finish at this years Ababe Bikila Marathon. He has a bright future.

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-72177821497210101162008-10-27T13:12:00.003-04:002008-10-27T13:23:35.794-04:00

In what was billed ad The Big Millennium Wedding Bash Sileshi got hitched to Tirunesh over the weekend. There is a moment by moment account of the wedding from Tirunesh's website (the website is quite good). The website claims that 500,000 greeted the bride and groom at Meskel Square. What a year Tirunesh has had!

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-18061568575516720452008-10-13T22:29:00.003-04:002008-10-13T23:15:55.039-04:00

Of course, you should vote, if eligible, in the upcoming US Presidential Election on Nov. 4. But that is not what this post is about. It is about voting for 2008 World Athlete of the Year. Last year's winners (Tyson Gay of USA and Meseret Defar of Ethiopia) didn't even make it to the list this time. However, you can vote for Haile or Kenenisa for men and Tirunesh Dibaba for women. Make sure you

roochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00125211435159381084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-85306462275208225332008-10-13T22:06:00.006-04:002008-10-13T23:21:05.013-04:00

After 205 posts over the past 24 months, ROOCHA, the blog, today turns TWO years old! It has been a remarkable year with lots of emotional ups and downs, victories and defeats, but it has been a lot of fun writing about our beloved sport of running from a personal, national, and international perspective. Looking forward to the next 12 months as we count down to Berlin 2009. Your comments and

roochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00125211435159381084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-82518549567030799772008-10-11T21:57:00.003-04:002008-10-12T23:51:15.188-04:00

I have always wanted to do the Chicago Marathon. I had hoped this would be the year. It was not to be! Not even close. My long run got up to 16 miles but that was in early June before I developed all sorts of injuries. By the end of July I had no chance of running in this year’s Chicago Marathon. I am a victim of a life long aversion to stretching. When not in shape, the Chicago Marathon is

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-88077227191462061082008-09-28T05:18:00.003-04:002008-09-28T06:51:47.087-04:00

Just when everyone thinks there is nothing more Haile can do, he pulls out another magic trick out of his bag. In today's race, Haile had an unexpected company up to 35km. Winning, let alone breaking the record, was in doubt according to race commentators. Haile shook off his last challenger after 35 km and showed his heart with an all out sprint on the last stretch to dip under the 2:04 barrier

roochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00125211435159381084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-47316223532524728192008-09-13T14:04:00.002-04:002008-09-13T14:27:14.466-04:00

Meseret Defar defeated Vivian Cheruiyot in the 5,000M at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart avenging last week's defeat. It would have been a disaster had she lost. Glad to see her back on track.The the Women's 1,500M featured to huge Beijing disappointements. In the battle of huge disappointers Maryam Yusuf Jamal defeated the enigmatic Gelete Burka.

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-72035570084582138222008-09-05T22:50:00.003-04:002008-09-05T23:06:46.506-04:00

Meseret Defar was defeated by Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) in the 5,000M at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels. Meseret was niped at the end by Vivian Cheruiyot. Looks like Meseret is not running with a clear head and she may have lost a step. Needless to say she needs to get back on track. Sileshi Sihine once again reminds us that he is one of the great 10,000 M runners to ever live by

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-9176059456908113262008-09-01T22:18:00.000-04:002008-09-01T22:59:50.179-04:00

Kenenisa continued his rampage winning the 3,000 m at the Gateshead British Grand Prix in a World Leading time of 7:31.94. He has hinted that this will be his last race for the season. Despite him being in great shape and having an amazing year no world record will be set this year.

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-68520448322896538992008-08-29T15:04:00.005-04:002008-08-29T17:50:37.130-04:00

It's back to the track for Kenenisa Bekele as he races in the Golden League meet in Zurich.Reader Zemede has posted a link to view the race live in about 30 mins.http://www.trackshark.com/videos/2008/goldenleague/The race will be on at 3:35 EST 12:35 PST and 19:35 GMT.Zemede, thanks for the link.Update:Kenenisa set a World Best of 12:50.18 at the 5,000M. He had overcome poor peacemaking, where he

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-18250059126540254162008-08-27T17:39:00.003-04:002008-08-27T17:46:59.956-04:00

OK. I admit I am tired of the Olympics. I am ready to move on physically and mentally.Physically, over the past two weeks I have been transformed into a couch potato. Browsing the net and flipping TV channels. Now, instead of watching others run I need to get out and do my own running. Mentally, I am tired of thinking and talking about medals, federations, events etc..Before I move one I wanted

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-641164788857342022008-08-27T17:01:00.002-04:002008-08-27T18:08:37.246-04:00

We are ordinary guys. We found that we conversed about running a lot. We started this blog because we love running. We feel very lucky that people read our blog and we feel privileged that we can share our thoughts with you.When we started this blog we just wanted to write. We never had a firm plan so this blog has exceeded our expectations. The more we blog the more we run about running. We also

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-55245105580739070952008-08-25T17:06:00.002-04:002008-08-25T17:27:27.948-04:00

With the Olympic over, the flag wavers are out declaring Ethiopia had a magnificent Olympic. Excuse me but are we watching the same Olympic? Perhaps we are living in an era of low expectations? Perhaps it’s in our nature to flag wave at every opportunity without exploring the underlying reality.Magnificent when your only overachiever is Tsegaye Kebede, a bronze medalist? Magnificent when you

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-41338317510580410062008-08-24T23:42:00.004-04:002008-08-24T23:51:36.260-04:00

It's all over! Next stop is London. What can we look forward to?

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-54396155313836557622008-08-24T16:02:00.004-04:002008-08-24T16:19:15.737-04:00

So we know Deriba Merga hit the wall. Who else hit the wall?Yonas Kifle hit the wall real bad. Martin Lel looked bad between 30km and 35km. Tsegaye Kebede was fading when he caught Deriba Merga who was fading even faster.The chart shows that Samuel Wanjiru was unbeatable. Gashaw Asfaw finished strong but he was too far behind. A few runners increased pace over the last 10K. The only runner to run

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-2171969487457949322008-08-23T21:51:00.005-04:002008-08-23T22:31:38.340-04:00

If you have not read the write up on Tsegaye Kebed at IAAF it's a must read. It's great to see someone like him succeed.The results are good. Two Ethiopians fighting for a medal albeit bronze. Given that is a young crew I would take this any day. Best of all, all three finished in the top ten. Tsegaye Kebede third, Deriba Megra fourth and Gashaw Asfaw seventh. It's a statement of the talent level

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-84779667309401282202008-08-23T18:16:00.002-04:002008-08-23T19:40:09.482-04:00

“I am not experienced and it will be my first time running under our national colours. But I am confident about my chances. I will be going for gold.” - Tsegaye Kebede (ETH)

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com77tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-15613771490738249672008-08-23T18:07:00.006-04:002008-08-23T23:45:56.121-04:00

Update: Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) ran 2:06:32. So much so for data.

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-49869256210817789552008-08-23T18:05:00.000-04:002008-08-23T19:28:39.289-04:00

So far in Beijing, the Ethiopian team has won six medals from three athletes. The mass of Ethiopians gathered at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa to watch the races have been elated, and rightfully so. Olympics are serious business in Ethiopia and every medal is highly celebrated.When we look a bit deeper into the performance of the team, it is hard to overlook the DNFs (drop outs) from Gete Wami,

roochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00125211435159381084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-72411467314868964152008-08-23T18:00:00.002-04:002008-08-23T18:41:04.565-04:00

The 29th Olympic Games in Beijing is winding down and will be over in less than 24 hours. The show and the competition China has put on for the world has been amazing. For all the controversy that was expected- from politics to culture to weather- the games have gone on near flawlessly and China deserves big kudos. It has indeed been a game for the ages.Speaking of ages, literally speaking this

roochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00125211435159381084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-72411180442731106662008-08-23T15:15:00.005-04:002008-08-23T22:07:30.325-04:00

This guy has been in the news.After a short stint in an Gonder prison, Ethiopian-born Israeli Seteng Ayele(akaHaile Satayin) is in Beijing. At 53 or 46 years, whatever his real age is, he has no chance to medal but you have to appreciate what he did in Osaka where he finished 19th, ahead of 4 Ethiopian runners.Here are bits from a nice write up“After a race, after a difficult practice, I go home

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946489.post-83611650544550309562008-08-23T14:27:00.004-04:002008-08-23T15:00:02.406-04:00

welemtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17293454447470652037noreply@blogger.com0