Thursday morning I had the chance to meet a great runner from Ethiopia. His name is Tadese Tola. Rings a bell? Yes, the young man won one of the most prestigious half marathons in the world: the Nike NYC Half 2008.
Watch in awe:
Tadese started running at age 16 in Addis Ababa. He soon joined his two legendary compatriots to train with them. No less than Haile Gebreselassie and Kenenisa Bekele are his daily training partners. He told me that the half marathon is his current favourite distance as he most likes mid-long tempo runs. After the NYC half he suffered from back pains and couldn't race properly until this year's Ethiopian track champs. The Healthy Kidney 10k was his first road race this year. Although he was uncertain if his back would hold up for the race, he definitely was eying on a sub 28 in Central Park. However, I almost had to force him to say a goal time as he was too shy and humble to boast.
He is only 21 but the marathon nerd I am, I had to ask if and when he will move up the distance. Currently his long hard runs are about 90 minutes while he looks at running 150 minute workouts to get ready for the marathon. Once he can handle the training necessary to be a factor at the marathon, he's looking forward to move up. He's a fan of NYC, so we should be all but surprised seeing him on the NYC Marathon roster for 2010.
Has anyone won the "NYC triple crown" before (Healthy Kidney 10k - NYC Half - NYC Marathon)?
mzungo.org says: watch out for Tadese Tola to be the first to do so!
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