Alemayehu Shumye Tafere is an Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

n long-distance runner who specialises in marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 running.

Born in Nazret, he took up running seriously in 2004 when he moved to Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

 with the hope of emulating the success of Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie is an Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event. He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon...

. He made his marathon debut in 2008 at the Marathon del Riso in Vercelli

Vercelli

Vercelli is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river...

 and won the race in a time of 2:14:33. He ran in two other marathons that year, winning the Warsaw Marathon

Warsaw Marathon

The Warsaw Marathon is an annual marathon race, which takes place in the heart of Poland's capital, Warsaw. It's the oldest annual marathon in Poland. It has been held since September 30, 1979...

 in 2:11:50 – a course record and personal best – and then breaking the course record to win the Beirut Marathon

Beirut Marathon

The Beirut International Marathon is an annual event in Beirut. The first ever BIM was held on October 19, 2003 and attracted over 6,000 runners from 49 different countries and tens of thousands of spectators in Lebanon and around the world...

 in November. He came tenth at the Zurich Marathon in 2009 and significantly improved his personal best at the Frankfurt Marathon

Frankfurt Marathon

Frankfurt Marathon is an annual marathon held in Frankfurt, Germany in the month of October. The race, currently sponsored by BMW, is Germany's oldest city marathon.- List of winners :Key:- External links :***...

, running a time of 2:08:46 for fifth place as the only non-Kenyan to reach the top eight.

He was among the leaders of the Xiamen Marathon on January 2010, but fell back at the 35 km mark, eventually taking fifth place. He returned to the race the following year and took third place in 2:09:58, his second sub-2:10 clocking. In his second run of 2011 he finished in the top five of the Rotterdam Marathon

Rotterdam Marathon

The Rotterdam Marathon is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April of every year since the third edition in 1984, and attracts many top athletes. It has also been ranked as one of the top 10 marathons in the world by Runner's World...

, again running under two hours and ten minutes. He was one of six men to go under the previous course record at the Ljubljana Marathon

Ljubljana Marathon

Ljubljana Marathon is a marathon, organised in Ljubljana by the City Municipality of Ljubljana . It has been taking place since 1996 and attracts several thousand people each year...

in October, but did not make the podium with his fifth place finish.

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