Guteni Shone

Bezunesh Deba Dejene

Bezunesh Deba switched to road running early in her career. At the age of 20 she was already competing successfully on the US road running circuit. In 2009 she moved to New York and since then lives in the Bronx.

The Ethiopian ran her marathon debut in the same year, winning in Moline (Illinois) with 2:44:22. Just five weeks later she competed in New York finishing seventh in 2:35:54 and then took the Sacramento Marathon a month later with 2:32:17. When she took a more professional approach with less races, Deba had huge success between 2011 and 2015.

After finishing runner-up twice in the New York Marathon, she achieved her biggest career victory in Boston in 2014. Originally, she had been second, but Kenya’s winner Rita Jeptoo was disqualified. Deba’s winning time of 2:19:59 still stands as Boston’s course record today. Less successful in recent years, the Ethiopian will hope to reignite her marathon career in Dubai.

 

Haimanot Alemayehu Shewe

Obse Abdeta

Still very young, Obse Abdeta brings track and shorter distance speed to the second marathon of her career. She made an impressive debut in finishing third in Shanghai on November 17 last year, running 2:27:47 which was the fastest by an U-20 junior in the world for the year at the time.

This continued her run of form as a junior, having run a world junior best time for 2019 for 10k on the road at Valenciennes in France on March 31 of 31:13. In May 2019 she was also on form on the track, running her fastest ever 5,000m to win in Regensburg in Germany with 15:33.41.

A highly productive 2019 also included her best half marathon to-date with 71:20 for fourth in Madrid on April 7. All the signs point to another improvement in Dubai for her second marathon.

Chaltu Tafa Waka

Chaltu Waka clocked a number of times around the 2:30 mark after winning her marathon debut in Porto back in 2013 with 2:37:47. She ran her personal best of 2:29:30 when she was third in Warsaw in 2015.

A year later Waka took the Kosice Marathon in Slovakia with 2:32:20. She was really unlucky when she found out that her stand-out performance was irregular. Waka ran 2:25:09 for fourth place in Abu Dhabi in 2018, however the course was measured short.

If the length of the course would have been accurate Waka would now have a PB of around 2:25:45. So she may be able to run such a time in Dubai. The Ethiopian won the Rennes Marathon last year with 2:30:01, however this is also a time that does not appear in the official world lists as the course is downhill.

Ketabo Chaltu Shuna

Ketabo Chaltu Shuna has only had very few international races and because of this is still a relatively unknown athlete.

In autumn 2015 she briefly competed in Europe. Then it took four years before she returned and placed third in the Porto Half Marathon in September 2019. The Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon will be a true test for Shuna.

Hawi Feysa

The 20-year-old Ethiopian Hawi Feysa has turned to the marathon early in her career after good performances on the track and cross country while also showing promise on the road.

She makes her marathon debut in the Standard Chartered event in Dubai. Her last major competitive outing was running for Ethiopia at the World Championships in Doha where she finished eighth in the final of the 5,000m, clocking 14:44.92.

The season of 2019 marked advances for her on the track including a personal best at 5,000m, set at the perennially strong quality meeting of Hengelo in the Netherlands. On June 9, 2019 she ran her fastest 5,000m so far of 14:38.76. Last year also saw her run creditably in the World Cross Country Championships at Aarhus in Denmark on March 30, finishing 17^th in the senior race.

In 2017 she ran 50:09 for 15km on the road at Le Puy-en-Velay in France, a level of performance which suggests the marathon may be where her future lies.

Hanna Lindholm

The 40-year-old Lindholm has methodically broken through the 2:30 barrier in the marathon, proving that a highly active 2019 on the roads had not blunted her edge when it came to reaching this goal.

The Swede broke through with 2:29:34 for fifth place in Hamburg in April, the first of three marathons for the year and her results in Stockholm in June: fourth in 2:41:31 on a course and conditions which are rarely easy and Frankfurt in October: 12^th in 2:30:47, point to her consistency.

For good measure she also ran a personal best for the half marathon in Copenhagen on September 15, clocking 71:57. She has twice competed for Sweden in the marathon at the European Championships, in 2014 and 2018, and her best performance has been the 22^nd place in Zurich six years ago. On the fast Dubai course she will be eager to achieve the Olympic qualifying time of 2:29:30.

Tigist Abayechew Jabore

Tigist Abayechew has made a rapid advance from her marathon debut at Taiyuan in China in 2017 when she ran 2:30:11 for second place.

At her next outing at the distance the 25-year-old Ethiopian improved her best to 2:24:15 on November 3 last year to finish runner-up in Istanbul. She has built up steadily towards the marathon, performing well on the track in her home country with a 10,000m best of 33:06.75 in 2014 in Addis Ababa.

She ventured further afield as she gathered experience on the roads, running her best 10k in Des Moines in the heart of the USA, clocking 33:25 which remains her best for the distance. Having improved her marathon PB by almost six minutes at the second attempt, Dubai’s fast course should prove to her liking for further development.

Yenenesh Tilahun Dinkesa

The Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon will be Yenenesh Tilahun Dinkesa’s second race over the classic distance.

A year ago she ran a fine marathon debut in Spain, when she took third place in Sevilla. Taking into account her personal bests at shorter distances Dinkesa’s time of 2:25:54 was a very good performance. In former years the Ethiopian competed at various track and road events, stretching from the 1,500 m to the half marathon distance.

She achieved some notable results, taking for example the 15k race in Nijmegen in 2015 with 50:05 and placing fourth in the 10 miles’ event in Zaandam, Netherlands, in the same year in 52:53. While her half marathon PB stands at 69:23 the marathon distance may well be the event where she can achieve an international breakthrough.