Olympic medalists Tsegaye Kebede and Gete Wami of Ethiopia were victorious at today's BUPA Great North Run from Newcastle to South Shields, England, the world's largest half-marthon.
Kebede, the Beijing Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon, beat compatriot Gebre Gebremariam by a wide margin. Clocking 59:45, he was the only athlete to break the one hour mark on the slightly downhill course. Gebremariam was alone in second place in 1:00:29, while American Abdi Abdirahman narrowly edged 2007 world marathon champion Luke Kibet of Kenya, 1:01:33 to 1:01:34, for third.
Wami emerged victorious after a three-way battle with Kenyan Magdalene Mukunzi and Briton Jo Pavey. Wami's winning time of 1:08:51 put her just one second ahead of Mukunzi and two seconds ahead of Pavey. Both Mukunzi and Pavey set personal best times.
Abdirahman, Wami and women's sixth place finisher Hayley Haining of Scotland (1:10:53 PB), were using today's race as a stepping stone to the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 2. Wami is leading the 2007/2008 World Marathon Majors point series, and needs to finish first or second in New York to guarantee her victory in the series and the $500,000 individual prize. She was second in New York last year to England's Paula Radcliffe who announced last week that she will defend her New York City title.
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