Berhane Adere
Berhane Adere Debala is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and the half marathon. She was world champion over 10,000 m in 2003 and world champion in the half marathon in 2002. Berhane works for UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador for girls' education.
Berhane held the African record for 10,000 metres in a time of 30:04.18, set at the 2003 World Championships, where she won gold. The African record was broken at the 2008 Olympics by Tirunesh Dibaba, who became the first African to run under 30 minutes.
Berhane won the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2002, and the bronze medal in the 2001 World Half Marathon Championships. She was the gold medallist over 3000 metres at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships
She won the 2006 Chicago Marathon with a personal best time of 2:20:42. She won the Chicago Marathon again in 2007 and the Dubai Marathon on 18 January 2008. Berhane also won 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 half marathon 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 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.
