KEBEDE AND WAMI WIN THE GREAT NORTH RUN
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

BUPA Great North Run

Olympic medalists Tsegaye Kebede and Gete Wami of Ethiopia were victorious at today's BUPA Great North Run from Newcastle to South Shields, England, the world's largest half-marthon.

Kebede, the Beijing Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon, beat compatriot Gebre Gebremariam by a wide margin. Clocking 59:45, he was the only athlete to break the one hour mark on the slightly downhill course. Gebremariam was alone in second place in 1:00:29, while American Abdi Abdirahman narrowly edged 2007 world marathon champion Luke Kibet of Kenya, 1:01:33 to 1:01:34, for third.

Wami emerged victorious after a three-way battle with Kenyan Magdalene Mukunzi and Briton Jo Pavey. Wami's winning time of 1:08:51 put her just one second ahead of Mukunzi and two seconds ahead of Pavey. Both Mukunzi and Pavey set personal best times.

Abdirahman, Wami and women's sixth place finisher Hayley Haining of Scotland (1:10:53 PB), were using today's race as a stepping stone to the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 2. Wami is leading the 2007/2008 World Marathon Majors point series, and needs to finish first or second in New York to guarantee her victory in the series and the $500,000 individual prize. She was second in New York last year to England's Paula Radcliffe who announced last week that she will defend her New York City title.

ENDS

Full Results

Name	Race Number	Club	Overall Position	Age Group Position	Gender Position	Age Group and Gender Position	Finish Time	Tyne Bridge	10k time	15k time	20k time	Nike+
Peter Muffett	45927							00:31:13	02:02:07
JOSH CASSIDY	506		1	1	1	1	00:44:10	00:00:00	00:20:09	00:30:07	00:00:00
Ralph Brunner	503		2	2	2	2	00:45:03	00:04:58	00:20:28	00:30:36	00:42:34
Rafael Botello Jimenez	505		3	1	3	1	00:47:58	00:00:00	00:22:02	00:32:37	00:45:18
MARK TELFORD	507		4	2	4	2	00:50:56	00:00:00	00:00:00	00:34:42	00:48:08
Diana Roy	527		1	3	1	1	00:51:18	00:05:45	00:23:16	00:34:43	00:48:33
SHELLY WOODS	525		2	3	2	1	00:51:19	00:00:00	00:00:00	00:34:43	00:00:00
Jason Gill	509		5	4	5	3	00:53:17	00:00:00	00:00:00	00:35:41	00:50:14
Francesca Pocellato	526		3	1	3	1	00:59:12	00:06:42	00:27:13	00:40:12	00:55:50
Tsegay Kebede	2		1	1	1	1	00:59:45	00:07:59	00:28:01	00:42:18	00:56:42
Gebre Gebremariam	4		2	2	2	2	01:01:29	00:00:00	00:00:00	00:00:00	00:00:00
Abdi Abdirahman	5		3	3	3	3	01:01:33	00:07:58	00:28:15	00:42:57	00:58:19
LUKE KIBET	1		4	4	4	4	01:01:34	00:07:59	00:28:13	00:42:57	00:58:19
Juan Luis Barrios	10		5	5	5	5	01:01:48	00:07:59	00:28:29	00:43:15	00:58:34
MARTIN FAGAN	9		6	6	6	6	01:02:20	00:00:00	00:29:22	00:43:55	00:59:03
Felix Limo	3		7	7	7	7	01:03:11	00:00:00	00:29:04	00:44:06	00:59:52
MICKEY BUSHALL	501		6	4	6	3	01:03:12	00:06:48	00:27:49	00:42:23	00:59:16
JOSE MANUEL MARTINEZ	6		8	1	8	1	01:03:31	00:00:00	00:29:59	00:45:00	01:00:28
RUI PEDRO SILVA	11		9	8	9	8	01:03:33	00:08:37	00:29:59	00:45:00	01:00:27
Ricardo Ribas	16		10	9	10	9	01:03:35	00:08:38	00:30:00	00:44:58	01:00:26