Berhane Adere Debala ( Ge'ez: ብርሀኔ አደሬ born 21 July 1973) is a retired Ethiopian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who specialised in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

and

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

. She won the gold medal in the 10,000 m at the 2003 World Championships and silver medals in the event at the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and 2005 World Championships. Berhane claimed gold and silver for the 3,000 metres at the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, took silver in

and bronze in

. She won the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. 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 UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

as a goodwill ambassador for girls' education.

Career

Berhane held the African record for the

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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba (, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 October 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner athlete who competes in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold meda ...

, 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

again in

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

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 The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shie ...

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 The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 199 ...

Achievements

International competitions

Personal bests

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

– 8:25.62 (

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

2001) ** 3000 metres indoor – 8:29.15 (

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

2002) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

– 14:29.32 (

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

2003) ** 5000 metres indoor – 14:39.29 (

2004) *

– 30:04.18 ( Paris-Saint-Denis 2003) ;Road * 5 kilometres – 14:54 (

Carlsbad, CA Carlsbad is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is north of downtown San Diego and south of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. Car ...

2003) * 10 kilometres – 31:07 (

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

2006) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

– 1:07:52 (

New Orleans, LA New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

2010) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

– 2:20:42 (

Chicago, IL Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

2006)

References

External links

*
Berhane Adere in the half marathon in Rotterdam 2007
- From Ethiopian Running Blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Berhane Adere 1973 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Olympic athletes for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Half Marathon Championships winners Chicago Marathon female winners UNICEF goodwill ambassadors Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games