Tariku Jufar’s Historic mission at the Ottawa Marathon

Once again athletes from across the planet will converge upon Ottawa for the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend on 25-26 May for the 10km and Marathon – both of them IAAF Silver Label Road Races – and among them will be a large contingent of Ethiopians.

Half a dozen Ethiopians are part of a group trained in Addis Ababa by renowned coach Haji Adilo and managed by Hussein Makke, who is based in Pennsylvania. By the end of the weekend their presence will no doubt be felt.

After consulting the coach, Makke believes Firehiwot Dado, the 2011 New York City Marathon winner, is a good bet to win the Ottawa women’s 10km and heavily touts Tariku Jufar to defeat the world-class Marathon field, thus defying history.

Despite the nation’s extraordinary long distance prowess, no Ethiopian man has ever won the Ottawa Marathon.

The 28-year-old Jufar is among a group of roughly 100 athletes who are part of Haji’s training group in Addis. Several times a week they meet to run and to push each other to greater fitness. The competitiveness on display is conducive to world-class running, and all of their training is done at altitudes of 2500m and above. Read more