Dire Tune Arissi ( ; born 19 June 1985) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner. Tune competed in the

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 ...

at the 2005 World Championships. At the 2006 World Road Running Championships she finished fourth in the individual competition. This was good enough to help Ethiopia win a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the team competition. On April 21, 2008, Tune won the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

with a time of 2:25:25. She was then selected to represent her country in the marathon at the

2008 Summer 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 ...

, and was the only Ethiopian to finish, placing 15th in a time of 2:31:16. In April 2009, Tune finished second by one second in the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:32:17. After finishing the race, she collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. Her agent said the problem was due in part to dehydration combined with the cool weather and the fact that she trained for a shorter race. Dire Tune holds the One Hour running

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

of 18.517 kilometres set June 12, 2008 in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

. The previous record (18,340 m) was set by

Tegla Loroupe Tegla Chepkite Loroupe (born 9 May 1973) is a former Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previousl ...

ten years earlier. Tune won the 2009

Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. History The first event, in 2007, saw Samuel Wanjiru breaking the world record, but Wanjiru himself set a new world record o ...

, setting the Ethiopian

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 ...

record of 1:07:18. The previous national record (1:08:07) was set by Bezunesh Bekele in 2007 in

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

. She won the 2010 Ottawa 10K race in 32:11 in late May, becoming the first woman to finish ahead of the men's winner in the mixed gender race where the men's section begins four minutes after the women. She ran at the Bogota Half Marathon in August and finished as runner-up, some six seconds behind winner Shewarge Amare. The

Frankfurt Marathon The Frankfurt Marathon (official name as of 2016: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, until 2015: BMW Frankfurt Marathon, until 2010: Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon) is a marathon which has taken place every year in Frankfurt am Main since its inception i ...

followed in November and she improve her personal best by almost a minute, running 2:23:44 for the runner-up spot behind

Caroline Kilel Caroline Cheptanui Kilel (born 21 March 1981) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in road running competitions. She was the winner at the 2011 Boston Marathon and the Frankfurt Marathon in 2010 and 2013. Kilel took the silver medal ...

. She started the 2011 season with a win at the Ethiopian 15K Championships, beating

Atsede Habtamu Atsede Habtamu Besuye (born 26 October 1987) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running and the marathon distance. She came to prominence at the IAAF World Road Running Championships in 2007 where, at the age of nineteen ...

at the line. She ran at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon a few days later and was the runner-up, albeit some minutes behind a world record-breaking

Mary Keitany Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born 18 January 1982) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. She was the world record holder in a women-only marathon, having won the 2017 London Marathon in a time of 2:17:01. As of November 2022, she ...

. She came close to winning the World's Best 10K race in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

two weeks later, but was edged into second by Sentayehu Ejigu. She topped the podium at the World 10K Bangalore, pipping Merima Mohammed at the line. She ran the marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea. Despite running the first 13 miles in the lead pack, she was disqualified after consuming a drink from an unknown person in the crowd, which is against IAAF rules.

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 ...

- 9:02.08 min (2003) *

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 ...

- 15:47.83 min (2003) *

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 ...

- 1:07:18 hrs (2009) *

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 ...

- 2:23:44 hrs (2010) *

Hour run The one hour run is an athletics event in which competitors try to cover as much distance as possible within one hour. While officially recognized by World Athletics as a track event, it is rarely contested apart from occasional world record atte ...

- 18.517 km (2008) WR

Achievements

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tune, Dire 1985 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Olympic athletes for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Boston Marathon female winners World Athletics record holders 21st-century Ethiopian sportswomen