Ethiopia’s Fentaye Belayneh won the Boston Half Marathon (የቦስተን ግማሽ ማራቶን) in Boston, United States, on Sunday, November 8, for the third year in a row. She ran 1 hour, 9 minutes and 14 seconds and finished two seconds ahead of Winfred Mbithe of Kenya. She is the first woman to win the race three years in a row, the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) said. On the same day, Likina Amebaw won the women’s race at the Cross Internacional de Itálica in Spain.
A Sprint up the Last Hill in Boston
The race starts and finishes in Franklin Park. American Kassie Parker led from the start, and the chasing group did not catch her until the seventh mile, Race Results Weekly reported.
At 11 miles she was still with four other runners. She waited for the uphill finish over the last 800 meters, then pulled away from Mbithe, the outlet wrote.
Sentayehu Lewetegn of Ethiopia finished third in 1:09:26, and Melat Kejeta of Germany was fourth in 1:09:29. The B.A.A. race preview said it was the first road race in Boston for both women.
Fentaye spoke through an interpreter after the race. She said she comes to Boston because the event is great and she loves the atmosphere, the B.A.A. reported.
She came to Boston with the fastest personal best in the field, 1:04:49, which she ran to win the Houston Half Marathon earlier this year. After that win, the Amharic channel Diaspora Media Network called her “the lightning of Debark” in the title of an interview. In the men’s race, Habtom Samuel of Eritrea won in a race record of 59:49.
Likina Amebaw Wins Near Seville
Likina Amebaw (ልቅና አምባው) won the women’s 9.55 kilometer race in 30:41 at Santiponce, near Seville, World Athletics reported. Charity Cherop of Uganda was second in 30:49, and Cynthia Chepkurui of Kenya was third in 30:57. Yenenesh Shimket of Ethiopia finished fourth.
Likina attacked when the bell rang for the last lap and won by eight seconds. It was her first win at the event, one year after she finished third. “I’m especially happy because this is my first win here,” she told World Athletics.
The race is a Gold level meeting of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour. The Spanish sports daily Marca wrote that she also won the world 5 kilometer road title in Copenhagen this autumn.
Ethiopian Wins in Porto and Nice
In Portugal, Ergat Kahsay Heshe won the women’s race at the 22nd Porto Marathon in 2:28:08, the public broadcaster RTP reported. Nelly Jepleting Tirop of Kenya was second, and Netsanet Tafere Desta of Ethiopia was third in 2:35:20. In the men’s race, Tissa Dibisa Admasu of Ethiopia finished second, 17 seconds behind Vincent Kipkorir Kigen of Kenya.
In France, Lemi Gerema won the marathon from Nice to Cannes in 2:13:27, according to World Athletics results. Abdisa Saketa, also of Ethiopia, was second in 2:18:37. The French site Marathons.fr reported that Lemi also won the Leiden Marathon in the Netherlands in May.
The wins came on the same Sunday that Ethiopians won both races at the Athens Marathon in Greece. A week earlier, Ethiopian women took the first five places at the Istanbul Marathon.
