Ethiopian Athletics: Dire Tune to run the Frankfurt Marathon
Frankfurt, Germany – Former Boston Marathon champion Dire Tune of Ethiopia will run in the Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon here on Sunday.
The Frankfurt Marathon is one of the IAAF Gold Label Road Races, and an estimated 13,000 runners are registered for this year’s event.
Dire Tune has achieved some success in the marathon in recent years. In January 2008, she won the 2008 Houston Marathon in a personal best time of 2:24:40, which is a 30 seconds faster than the course record of the Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon. Three months later, she won the Boston Marathon (2:25.25).
Her early success might have taken a toll on her body as she finished 15th at the Beijing Olympic Marathon and 7th in the New York Marathon that year.
In 2009 Dire Tune returned to Boston and she was close to record a repeat only to be beaten by Salina Kosgei of Kenya at the finish line. In the closest women’s finish in the history of the Boston Marathon, Dire Tune was beaten by just one second. In the summer she again could not show her potential in a major championship. In the Berlin World Championships she finished 23rd in 2009.
This year however Dire Tune chose a different approach to the marathon. After running six races in less than two years in 2008 and 2009 the Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon will be her first one in 2010. Still only 25 years old Dire Tune hopes to bring her marathon career back on track with a great performance on Sunday.
She has run a couple of half marathons plus shorter distances in 2010. While her personal best in the half marathon stands at 67:18 she ran 67:58 in February finishing fifth in Ras Al Khaimah (United Arab Emirates).
