Berhane Adere Debala (Ge'ez: ብርሀኔ አደሬ born 21 July 1973) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialised in the 10,000 metres and half marathon. She won the gold medal in the 10,000 m at the 2003 World Championships and silver medals in the event at the 2001 and 2005 World Championships. Berhane claimed gold and silver for the 3,000 metres at the 2003 and 2004 World Indoor Championships, respectively. Her medal in 2003 was Ethiopia's first world indoor medal in a women's event. At the half marathon, she was the world champion in 2002, took silver in 2003 and bronze in 2001. She won the Chicago Marathon in 2006 and 2007.
Berhane held the world indoor record for the 3,000 m, set in 2002, which was the first sub-8:30 mark run by a woman indoors and the first world indoor record in a distance event by an Ethiopian woman. She also held the world indoor record in the 5,000 m, set in 2004.
Berhane works for UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador for girls' education.
Career Berhane held the African record for the 10,000 metres in a time of 30:04.18, set at the 2003 World Championships, where she won gold. Her record was broken at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by Tirunesh Dibaba, who became the first African woman to run under 30 minutes in the event.
She won the 2006 Chicago Marathon 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 claimed victory in the 2007 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon.
She was the top female finisher in the 2010 Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon, in which she recorded the fastest ever half marathon 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 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 and third at the Great South Run.
Achievements International competitions 1991World Cross Country ChampionshipsAntwerp, Belgium34thXC 6425 m21:302ndTeam36 pts1992World Cross Country ChampionshipsBoston, United States38thXC 6370 m22:193rdTeam96 pts1993African ChampionshipsDurban, South Africa1st10,000 m32:48.52World ChampionshipsStuttgart, Germany27th (h)10,000 m33:20.621995World ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden22nd (h)10,000 m33:14.761996World Cross Country ChampionshipsStellenbosch, South Africa10thXC 6300 m20:372ndTeam44 ptsOlympic GamesAtlanta, GA, United States18th10,000 m32:57.351997World Cross Country ChampionshipsTurin, Italy14thXC 6600 m21:371stTeam24 ptsWorld ChampionshipsAthens, Greece4th10,000 m31:48.95 1998African ChampionshipsDakar, Senegal1st5000 m15:54.31 World CupJohannesburg, South Africa3rd5000 m16:38.811999World ChampionshipsSeville, Spain7th10,000 m31:32.51 PB2000World Cross Country ChampionshipsVilamoura, Portugal14thXC 8080 m27:111stTeam20 ptsOlympic GamesSydney, Australia12th10,000 m31:40.522001World ChampionshipsEdmonton, Australia2nd10,000 m31:48.85World Half Marathon ChampionshipsBristol, United Kingdom3rdIndividual1:08:17 PB3rdTeam3:30:202002World Half Marathon ChampionshipsBrussels, Belgium1stIndividual1:09:063rdTeam3:30:58African ChampionshipsRadès, Tunisia1st5000 m15:51.08World CupMadrid, Spain1st3000 m8:50.882003World Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom1st3000 m8:40.25World ChampionshipsSaint-Denis, France10th5000 m14:58.071st10,000 m30:04.18 CRWorld Half Marathon ChampionshipsVilamoura, Portugal2ndIndividual1:09:024thTeam3:36:372004World Indoor ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary2nd3000 m9:11.432005World ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland2nd10,000 m30:25.41 2008Olympic GamesBeijing, China–MarathonWorld Marathon Majors2006London MarathonLondon, United Kingdom4thMarathon2:21:52Chicago MarathonChicago, IL, United States1stMarathon2:20:422007Chicago MarathonChicago, IL, United States1stMarathon2:33:492008London MarathonLondon, United Kingdom7thMarathon2:27:422009London MarathonLondon, United Kingdom5thMarathon2:25:30Chicago MarathonChicago, IL, United States3rdMarathon2:28:38
Personal bests 3000 metres – 8:25.62 (Zürich 2001) 3000 metres indoor – 8:29.15 (Stuttgart 2002) 5000 metres – 14:29.32 (Oslo 2003) 5000 metres indoor – 14:39.29 (Stuttgart 2004) 10,000 metres – 30:04.18 (Paris-Saint-Denis 2003) Road 5 kilometres – 14:54 (Carlsbad, CA 2003) 10 kilometres – 31:07 (Manchester 2006) Half marathon – 1:07:52 (New Orleans, LA 2010) Marathon – 2:20:42 (Chicago, IL 2006)
References
External links
Cheering Adere From The Back - From Ethiopian Running Blog