Koren Jelela, also known as ''Koren Jelila Yal'', (born 18 January 1987 in

Shewa Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...

) is an 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 ...

Career

At the 2007 World Cross Country Championships she finished nineteenth in the senior race. With four Ethiopian runners ahead of her she missed out for a place on the victorious Ethiopian team. The same thing happened in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, when Jelela finished fourteenth individually. She was less successful at the 2009 edition, as she finished in 30th place. She chose to move away from

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

and switch her focus to the

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

. On her debut over 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 ...

distance at the

Venice Marathon The Venice Marathon () (stylized as Venicemarathon) is a marathon road running, road race that has been held each year in Venice since 1986, usually in October. The course starts in Stra and passes through Mestre, , and Ponte della Libertà befo ...

in 2009, she finished as the runner-up with a time of 2:28:41 hours, second to veteran Kenyan athlete

Anne Kosgei Anne Jepkemboi Kosgei (born in 1980 in Uasin Gishu) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in road running, including the marathon. She has won her first marathon races in San Sebastián and Trieste, and went on to win both the Belgrade M ...

. That November she entered the

Great Ethiopian Run The Great Ethiopian Run () is an annual 10-kilometre road running event which takes place in late November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. With 45,000 participants, the race has become the biggest road race in Africa. Overview The competition was first ...

held in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

and won the 10 km race with a course record time of 33:03 minutes. She competed at the

RAK 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 list of world records in athletics, world record, but Wanj ...

the following February and made the top ten with a run of 1:10:52. She was announced as one of the elite foreign competitors for the 2010 Boston Marathon in April, but she failed to match her Venice performance and finished in twelfth place some five minutes off her personal best pace. She made an appearance over 10 km at the

World 10K Bangalore The World 10K Bengaluru (known as the TCS World 10K Bengaluru for sponsorship (commercial), sponsorship reasons by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)) is an annual 10 kilometres road running competition which takes place in Bangalore, India. ...

the following month and took fourth position. In her second full distance race of the year, she came fourth at the

Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is a road-running race held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, every year in the second or third Sunday of October. Aside from the actual marathon, the race also includes a half-marathon. The Toronto Waterfront Marathon ...

with a best run of 2:24:33. She closed her year in Nigeria with a fifth-place finish at the African Mountain Running Championships hosted by the Obudo Ranch Race that November. She opened 2011 at the

Mumbai Marathon The Mumbai Marathon (known as the Tata Mumbai Marathon for sponsorship reasons by Tata Group), is an annual international marathon held in Mumbai, India, on the third Sunday of January every year. It is the largest marathon in Asia as well as th ...

and she won in course record time. Her mark of 2:26:56 was also the fastest marathon ever run by a woman in India. In April she took on the

Paris Marathon The Paris Marathon () is an annual marathon (sport), marathon hosted by the city of Paris, France. It is the largest running event in France in terms of finishers and is typically among the five largest marathons in the world. The marathon begi ...

and placed top-three behind Kenyans

Priscah Jeptoo Priscah Jeptoo (born 26 June 1984) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She has won marathons in New York, Paris, Turin, and London and has a best time of 2:20:14 for the distance. She was the runner-up i ...

and Agnes Kiprop. She returned to India for the

and finished just outside the top three behind

Belaynesh Oljira Belaynesh Oljira Jemama (, born 26 June 1990) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes mainly in 10K and half marathon races. She represented her country at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2013 World Championships and the IAAF World Cross ...

in an Ethiopian sweep of the top four. She was a back-up runner for the Ethiopian team at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

, but ultimately did not compete. In October she won the

ahead of her compatriot

Mare Dibaba Mare Dibaba Hurrsa (born 20 October 1989) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She won the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. Dibaba is not related to track Olympic champion, world record holder and compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba. B ...

– Koren reached the halfway mark in a quick time of 1:08:38 hours, but slowed in the second half to finish the race in a personal best time of 2:22:43 hours. The next year, her best run came at the

2012 London Marathon The 2012 London Marathon was the 32nd running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 22 April. Both of the elite races were won by Kenyan athletes, and Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede was the only non-Kenyan to re ...

, although her time of 2:28:05 was only enough for twelfth. She was one second slower at the

Istanbul Marathon The Istanbul Marathon (, also known as Türkiye İş Bankası Istanbul Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an international athletics event hosted in Istanbul, Turkey, in November, first held in 1979. It is the only marathon in the world who ...

, but the race was more tactical and she came out on top to win the race.Kurdyumova, Yelena & Porada, Sergey (2012-11-12)
Chebogut and Jelela win in Istanbul
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-11.

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 ...

- 9:12.26 min (2007) *

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 ...

- 15:51.81 min (2007) *10 km (road) - 31:55 min (2010) *

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 ...

- 1:08:38 hrs (2011) *

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 ...

- 2:22:43 hrs (2011)

References

External links

*
Boston Marathon profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelela, Koren 1987 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Ethiopian female cross country runners 20th-century Ethiopian women 21st-century Ethiopian sportswomen