Teyba Erkesso Wako (born 30 October 1982 in Arsi) is an Ethiopian runner who specializes in

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

(including the

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 ...

and

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 ...

) as well as

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 earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

. She began running for Ethiopia internationally at the age of sixteen and won her first

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 23/24, 2002. The races were held at the Leopardstown Racecourse, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, near Dublin, Ireland. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', ...

, helping the Ethiopian women to a team victory. She formed a key part of Ethiopian team competitions in her early career, helping them reach the podium at international events on numerous occasions. Her first individual medal came at the

2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20/21, 2004. The races were held at the Ossegem Park in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', and for the IAAF. ...

, where she won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the short race. It was in road running competitions where she made her name. She won the

Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale The Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale is an annual half marathon which follows a course from Marseille to Cassis in France during the last weekend in October. It has the silver label of the IAAF Road Race Label Events and is thus among th ...

at the age of 21 but only switched her focus to road running in 2007. After a fourth-place finish at the 2009

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 ...

, she set a state record of 2:23:53 at the

Houston Marathon The Houston Marathon is an annual marathon usually held every January in Houston, Texas, United States, since 1972. With thousands of runners and spectators, it is the largest single day sporting event in the city. It is run concurrently wit ...

(a personal best). She won her first major events in 2010, placing first in the

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 ...

and then 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 ...

. She is perhaps known for pushing the pace during the middle of the race, as she did in Boston and Houston to break away.

Career

Her first major competition representing Ethiopia was the 1999 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where she finished 38th overall at the age of sixteen. She improved to 20th place at the 2001 edition of the event, helping the Ethiopian women to the team bronze medal as a result. In the following year at the

she finished tenth and took the gold medal in the team competition with Ethiopia. She returned to the World Half Marathon Championships in 2003, but did not repeat her medal success, finishing in 21st place and fourth overall with the women's team.Erkesso Teyba

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved 25 April 2010. One of her first ever road racing wins was at the

in 2003, where she finished the half marathon in 1:10:07. In the 2004 season Erkesso took on both the long and short races at the

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. After finishing fifth in the long race and winning the team gold, she reached the global podium for the first time with a bronze medal in the short race and yet another team gold. She won the IAAF's Lotto Cross Cup Brussels cross country meeting twice consecutively in 2005 and 2006. She again ran in two races at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but was less successful on her second attempt. Although she finished twelfth and won a team gold medal in the short race, she was well off the pace in 46th position in the long race. Erkesso was victorious at the

Vancouver Sun Run The Vancouver Sun Run, owned by Run Vancouver Holdings ULC and sponsored by ''The Vancouver Sun'' newspaper, is a 10-kilometre road running event held in Vancouver every year on the third (sometimes the fourth) Sunday in April since 1985. It is ...

10K in 2007, and won the 2009

Bay to Breakers Bay to Breakers is an annual road running, footrace in San Francisco, California typically on the third Sunday of May. The phrase "Bay to Breakers" reflects the fact that the race starts at the northeast end of the downtown area a few blocks fro ...

with a time of 38:29. That same year she just missed out on the podium at the

, finishing in fourth place. She won the 2009

in a state record time and improved it further with a second win in 2010, running 2:23:53. She set a new personal best at the

in 2010, taking fourth place with a time of 1:07:41. She won her first World Marathon Major in April that year, winning the

with a time of 2:26:11. She led from the halfway point and increased her lead, just managing to hold off Tatyana Pushkareva in the final stages. In June she took part in the

Freihofer's Run for Women The Delightful® Run for Women (formerly Freihofer's Run for Women) is an annual five-kilometer road running competition for women that is usually held in late May or early June in Albany, New York, United States. First held in 1979, the race has ...

and finished in fourth place, some distance off the winner

Emily Chebet Emily Chebet Muge (born 18 February 1986) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and cross country running. She is a two-time winner of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, being the gold meda ...

. She missed almost all of the 2011 season, with her sole appearance coming at the

2011 Boston Marathon The 2011 Boston Marathon took place on Monday, April 18, 2011, as the 115th official running of the Boston Marathon. On October 18, 2010, the 20,000 spots reserved for qualifiers were filled in a record-setting eight hours and three minutes. Geof ...

, where she failed to finish. She also pulled out early on in her first race of 2012 at the Ottawa Marathon.

Achievements

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 ...

- 8:56.67 min (2006) *

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 ...

- 15:02.28 min (2004) *

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 ...

- 31:13.67 min (2007) *

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 ...

- 1:07:41 hrs (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 ...

- 2:23:53 hrs (2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Erkesso, Teyba 1982 births Living people Boston Marathon female winners Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games African Games competitors for Ethiopia 20th-century Ethiopian women 21st-century Ethiopian sportswomen