Dejene Berhanu wins the Great North Run (© Getty Images)
Newcastle, EnglandDejene Berhanu blasted to a course record and went top of the 2004 world list in becoming the first Ethiopian to win the Great North Run today. Benita Johnson, the World Cross Country champion from Australia who has been hampered by injury since that win in March took the women’s title.
Berhanu - Fastest ever Ethiopian
The 23-year-old only decided to compete after finishing second in last week's IAAF World Athletics Final and despite his lack of pedigree at the distance he kicked away from his rivals to win in 59:37 to go third on the world all-time lists.
Berhanu's only previous half-marathon outing was a modest 63 minutes in Addis Ababa three years ago but he proved an able replacement for fellow countryman Haile Gebrselassie who withdrew with injury (since had his Achilles tendon operation) following the Olympics.
He kicked clear around four miles and then continued to go further ahead, eventually winning by more than two minutes from defending champion Hendrick Ramaala who outsprinted European 5000m silver medallist Smail Sghir for second.
Any hopes his rivals had of catching Berhanu were destroyed with a blistering seventh mile of 4:18 - admittedly on a fast stretch of the course - and followed up with a 4:14 mile. That took him to eight miles in 36:07 and all of a sudden a sub-hour performance seemed on the cards.
Although the pace slowed as the course rose towards South Shields, Berhanu kept pushing in pursuit of Paul Kosgei's two-year-old course record and his efforts paid off as he became the fastest ever Ethiopian. Tesfaye Tola ran 59:51 in Malmo in 2000, and Gebrselassie 59:41on the downhill course in Lisbon in 2002.
"I knew I could break the course record, but I when I reached the hills I wondered whether I may have gone too fast with those two fast miles. I made a break and picked up the pace because I was trying to run a fast time, but now I need a rest!"
Simon Tonui and Marco Gielen were fourth and fifth, both passing Olympic marathon fourth placer Jon Brown while he made a toilet stop at 10 miles.
Johnson storms home in personal best
The women's race also went to an athlete running only their second half-marathon. World cross country champion Benita Johnson stormed to victory in a personal best of 67:55 with an impressive kick just over a mile from home.
It was a confidence boost ahead of an expected marathon debut - an educated guess suggesting New York is a likely venue - with the Great South Run 10 miler in Portsmouth in the south of England her next race.
Kenyan Susan Chepkemei, who had hinted two days earlier that she might attack Paula Radcliffe's course record of 65:40 set last year, took out the early pace with a 5:05 opening mile. By halfway the pack was down to six - Johnson, Chepkemei, Derartu Tulu, Berhane Adere, Edith Masai and Sonia O'Sullivan.
Training partners Johnson and O'Sullivan were by now sharing the pacing duties but the latter, twice a winner of the race, was dropped at 10 miles as Johnson piled on the pressure at the front.
Her efforts reduced the pack to three, as Adere and Chepkemei were dropped, and when she picked it up again in the closing stages she soon opened up a winning gap.
"I've heard all about the Great North Run and to win it and follow in the footsteps of so many great runners is fantastic,” confirmed Johnson. “My training has been going really well lately, since I had a couple of injections to sort out my anaemia.”
”The year started so well with winning the World Cross Country but then I had a bad injury with tendonitis in May and I got stressed out about it which led to the anaemia problem. I've got to learn to be more relaxed about injuries in future.”
Masai took second place by five seconds from Chepkemei, while Tulu moved into fourth, as Adere faded badly and walked over the line and collapsed straight afterwards.
Bob Frank for the IAAF
Results
Men
1 Dejene Berhanu (ETH) 59:37
2 Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 61:38
3 Smail Sghyr (FRA) 61:39
4 Simon Tonui (KEN) 63:21
5 Marco Gielen (NED) 63:21
6 Jon Brown (GBR) 63:30
7 Matt Smith (GBR) 64:08
8 Mohamed Ouaadi (MAR) 64:23
9 John Mayock (GBR) 64:31
10 Piet Jacobs (RSA) 64:42
Women
1 Benita Johnson (AUS) 67:55
2 Edith Masai (KEN) 68:27
3 Susan Chepkemei (KEN) 68:32
4 Derartu Tulu (ETH) 68:35
5 Berhane Adere (ETH) 68:48
6 Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) 68:55
7 Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 69:22
8 Kathy Butler (GBR) 71:24
9 Charlotte Dale (GBR) 71:47
10 Birhan Dagne (GBR) 72:20
