Asselefech Mergia wins the 2007 Confidence Women First 5km run (© Nahome Tesfaye)
Crime Prevention club athlete Asselefech Mergia was an impressive winner of the 2007 Confidence Women First 5km run, Ethiopia’s only mass participation race for women, today.
The 19-year-old, who narrowly missed selection for Ethiopia’s team for the World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, made amends by powering forward in the last kilometre to take victory in 16:13.16, five seconds ahead of All-Ethiopian Games 10,000m champion Ashu Kassim with last year’s third placer Makeda Haroun replicating her podium finish this year.
The fourth edition of the race once again improved its record participation to 8000 runners. And in line with the tradition of the race in unearthing future Ethiopian distance running talent, Mergia was a worthy winner in a relatively-strong starting field of runners.
After the usual frantic start, a leading group of about twenty runners hit the front at the end of the first kilometre with Australian Victoria Mitchell and Kenyan Evelyn Chelengat among the early leaders.
The leading ground dwindled down to fifteen runners as the runners approached the third kilometre with top Ethiopian runners like African junior 1500m bronze medallist Berhane Hirpassa dropping off.
Makeda Haroun was the first to show any kind of front running ambition at the 3.5km. Her ferocious pace dropped ten more runners in the next kilometre with only Mergia, Kassim, Derebe Alemu, and Frehiwot Goshu able to cope with the pace.
Alemu and Goshu were the next to drop off with the race now a three-way battle among Mergia, Haroun, and Kassim. Mergia hit the front with less than 800m to go to take a crucial five-second victory at the end. Kenyan Rose Chepkemboi was the first foreign runner home in eighth.
“I am delighted with the victory,” Mergia said in her post-race comments. “It is my reward for the hard work I put in training. I did not particularly prepare for this race. I did not do any road training. I was preparing for the track season when the club asked me to compete in this race. It is important to me to win a race running only against other women. It is a historic victory.”
Elshadai Negash for the IAAF
2007 Confidence Women First 5km run results
1. Asselefech Mergia (Crime Prevention) 16:13.16
2. Ashu Kassim (Prisons Police) 16:18.16
3. Makeda Haroun (Prisons Police) 16:23.03
4. Derebe Alemu (Prisons Police) 16:34.65
5. Frehiwot Goshu (Prisons Police) 16:35.88
6. Eyerusalem Kuma (Prisons Police) 16:43.83
7. Mahlet Melese (Rental Houses) 16:47.81
8. Rose Jepkemboi (Kenya) 16:53.45
9. Alemitu Abera (Muger) 16:53.63
10. Seblelidet Kidanemariam (Muger) 16:54.40