Marathon World Record Holder Gebrselassie Wins the Great Australian Run

December 1st, 2008

The Great Australian Run took place on the weekend, attracting in the realm of 4000 participants to the 15 kilometer fun run held in the city of Melbourne, Australia.

The race had some big-name draw-cards including Ethiopian distance king Haile Gebrselassie, Australia’s Craig Mottram and Kenyan Patrick Makau.

Gebrselassie, suffering from jet-lag, still managed to dominate his rivals, wining the inaugural event in 42 minutes and 40 seconds.

Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie burnt off his rivals for a commanding win in the Great Australian Run through the city streets here on Sunday.

Makau trailed in 35 seconds behind Gebrselassie to take second in 43:15, with well performed Australia athlete Collis Birmingham beating Olympian Craig Mottram for third placing in 43:35.

Kenya’s two-time world marathon champion Catherine Ndereba easily won the the women’s event in 50:43, Ndereba, 36, was second behind Romania’s Constantina Dita in this year’s Beijing Olympic marathon, but finished well ahead of sixth-placed Dita in the shorter event.

New Zealand’s Alice Mason was second in 51:27 and third-placed Lisa Weightman was the leading Australian in 51:31.

Click on the following link for a more thorough report on the Great Australian Run of 2008.

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