Sunday, June 26, 2011

Ethiopia says logistical preparations for Abyei peace force underway - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

June 26, 2011 (ADDIS ABABA) - An Ethiopia military official said that necessary military logistical preparations is being finalised for a peacekeeping force to be deployed to Sudan’s disputed region of Abyei.

Earlier this week, under the broker of the African Union, leaders from North and South Sudan signed Addis Ababa agreement to fully demilitarise the central region of Abyei and allow an Ethiopian peacekeeping force to move in to monitor the North-South frontier.

The United States on Thursday said that it has put forward a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council for the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian troops to Abyei. Ethiopian officials said that they are only waiting for UN to approve the deployment and are making all preparations before their forces depart.

“Among others our mandate in the Abyei region will be to protect civilians, maintain buffer zone and also to crate peaceful environment that will allow to conduct referendum on Abyei’’ Logistics affairs head under the ministry of defence Major General Gezahegn Abera said speaking on state television on Sunday.

“We are only days away from deploying our peace force to the region and we are doing every logistical preparation which will enable us to successfully accomplish our mission to Abyei.”

"Ethiopia forces are well competent to be deployed with in days up on urgent calls’’ the military official said referring to the country’s long experience whose forces had deployed in south Korea, Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia and currently under mission in Sudan.

Last month, North Sudan forces invaded the Abyei region launching military attacks. The violence has forced thousands of people to flee the area and raise tensions of a possible North-South return to war.

The Ethiopian military official called on both North and South Sudan parties to play their own positive role by immediately withdrawing their troops from the contested oil producing region of Abyei.

South Sudan will officially be an independent state on 9 July but the latest worsening security situation has become worrying. Addis Ababa which is seen as honest broker by both North and South Sudan doesn’t want another bloodshed in Sudan.

“Any instability in Sudan will certainly affect Ethiopia and the region as a whole and Ethiopia will remain devoted to maintain lasting peace in Sudan’’ Major General Gezahegn Abera further said.

North and South Sudan fought for over two decades in a civil war that killed some 2 million people. In 2005 the two sides signed Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that granted South the right to hold a self-determination vote.

The referendum on South Sudan was overwhelmingly in favour of secession however there are pending issues like demarcation of the border and sharing of oil wealth and others that remain to be a main concern between North and South Sudan.

(ST)

Ethiopians rule Half Marathon - Connecticut Post

The Connecticut Firefighters Pipes and Drums band makes their way through the runners before the start of the Stratton Faxon Fairfield Half Marathon on Sunday, June 26, 2011. Photo: B.K. Angeletti / Connecticut Post | Buy This Photo

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FAIRFIELD -- It was a warm at Jennings Beach Sunday morning, but the winners of the Stratton Faxon Fairfield Half Marathon were used to much hotter days.

Claiming victory in the male division of the 13.1 mile race was Kumsa Adugna of Ethiopia, the nation of origin for the top four male finishers.The 24-year-old was running in his first Fairfield Half Marathon, but he dispatched the other 1,670 male runners like he was the reigning champion, finishing with a blistering time of 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 40 seconds.The top three were rounded out by Ketema Nigusse and two-time winner Worku Beyi, who finished with times of 1:04.55 and 1:06.15, respectively.

At the halfway mark of 6.5 miles, Beyi was out in front and on pace to threaten the course record of 1:02.41, but Adugna stormed ahead at the 9-mile mark and held off a hard-charging Nigusse for the lead throughout the rest of the race. Lucas Meyer, 27, of Ridgefield, finished in fifth place with a time of 1:09.52, best among American-born men. Local teenagers Matt Klein and Michael Johnstoncrossed the line ninth and 12th, as well.

Topping the field of 1,749 females was Malika Mejdoub, finishing with a time of 1:18.06, a mere five seconds ahead of runnerup Tertza Dengersa of Turkey. The 29-year-old winner from Morocco, in her third Fairfield Half Marathon, came here with one goal in mind: to win.

"I didn't come here to train. I ran smart, and I ran to win," said Mejdoub, who was 16 minutes off the course record she was aiming to shatter. "I'm not a morning person, but I would be out running at 10 a.m. and I would run at least eight hours a day. I run every race to win."

Mejdoub, who has been training at a running camp in New Mexico in preparation for October's Chicago Marathon, was tired, but the $2,000 prize awarded to the winners makes the exhaustion worth it. "It's really good money, it makes me feel less tired too," she said.

The fifth-place finisher, 40-year-old Shannon McHale of West Simsbury, with a time of 1:23.49, was the first American woman to cross the finish line, followed by five more local women rounding out the top 10.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Shelter Island 10K, another Ethiopian victory | Suffolk Times

Running: Another Shelter Island 10K, another Ethiopian victory

By Bob Liepa | June 18, 2011 in Featured Stories, News, Sports

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | African runners once again figured prominently in the Shelter Island 10K Run, which was held for the 32nd time on Saturday.

African runners must like something about Shelter Island because they keep winning, posting quality times and dominating in the small island’s annual 10-kilometer race.

Kumsa Adugna, 25, of Ethiopia, who was the runner-up last year, was the winner this time around in the 32nd annual Shelter Island 10K Run on Saturday. Adugna, running a 4-minute 47-second mile pace, bolted across the finish line, completing the course in 29:44. He nudged out Harbert Okuti of Uganda by two seconds and third-place Keteme Nigusse of Ethiopia by three seconds in a close finish.

“I’m happy. I like,” Adugna, whose English is limited, told reporters afterward.

Adugna ran with the lead pack the whole way. He was first among a distinct group of six runners at the front that was later whittled down to three. Adugna, who said he felt confident, took the lead for himself on the grass during the final sprint to the finish line.

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Kumsa Adugna of Ethiopia, a runner-up last year, posted a winning time of 29 minutes 44 seconds.

Seven of the top eight finishers were Africans. Girma Tolla of Ethiopia was fourth in 30:04, Mourad Marofit of Morocco was fifth in 30:24, Abiyot Endale Worku of Ethiopia was sixth in 30:49 and Demesse Tefera of Ethiopia was eighth in 32:50.

Tefera followed seventh-place Birhanu Feysa of Silver Springs, Md. (31:18).

The first Long Islander was Matt Walsh of Wantagh. He was ninth in 34:52, which was 13 seconds ahead of 10th-place Christopher Koegel of Malverne.

Even the women’s champion had an African connection. Although Tezaya Dengersa, 30, is Turkish, she lives in Ethiopia with her husband and their two children.

In clocking a winning time of 34:17, Dengersa for the first time finished ahead of her rival, second-place Malika Mejdoub of Morocco, who turned in a time of 34:40.

Dengersa said she pushed herself as hard as she could. Perhaps she needed to. Speaking of Mejdoub, Dengersa said, “She’s strong.”

Mejdoub said the two of them ran the first three miles together before Dengersa made her move.

“Actually, I didn’t run well,” Mejdoub said. “I was tired a little bit this week, but it’s O.K. I took second place. I’m happy.”

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Tezaya Dengersa, a Turk who lives in Ethiopia, won the women's race in 34 minutes 17 seconds.

Caroline Bierbaum of New York City came in third at 34:43. Michele Buonora of Sayville was the first Long Island woman with a time of 40:52 that brought her 10th place.

Not counting Dengersa, Mejdoub was one of four Africans to place among the top eight in the women’s race. Among them were Salome Kosgei of Kenya (fourth in 36:15), who was followed by Aileen Barry of New York City (37:41) and Jane Finck of New York City (38:47). The next three female finishers were Muluye Gurmu of Ethiopia (38:57), Ilham Batal of Morocco (39:19) and Jenny Malik of Rochester (40:18).

The event featured the most former Olympians it has ever had — four — with Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Tolla and Dengersa taking part. Other big names from the running world participated, including Kim Jones and Jon Sinclair.

“There are so many good runners today,” said Rodgers, who won four Boston Marathons, four New York City Marathons and ran the marathon in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. “It’s not like 30 years ago, and so many good, older runners today, all ages, and that’s what you see here.”

Among the field of 22 elite runners were seven Ethiopians, four Moroccans, a Ugandan and a Kenyan. Dr. Frank Adipietro, the race’s medical director, said, “I’m going to have to say this is the strongest field we’ve had in the 32-year history of the race.”

The warm, sunny weather earlier in the day changed as the 5:30 p.m. starting time approached. It got cloudy, protecting runners from the sun, but there was still humidity to deal with.

As the runners made their way along the American-flag-lined course, with trees offering welcomed shade for some of the way, smiling spectators lining the route offered refreshments, applause and encouragement. “It’s a celebration of our sport,” said Samuelson, who won the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984 in Los Angeles.

Still, the conditions were apparently not right for a record, like the course record Alena Reta of Ethiopia set in 2010 when he won the race for the second time in four years, clocking a time of 28:40.

Many reasons can be attributed to the Africans’ fine record in long-distance running. Samuelson gained a firsthand appreciation for that a few weeks ago when she visited Kenya.

“I was really impressed with the way they trained,” she said. “They just run everywhere. If I went for a run, kids would jump off the backs of trucks or would run out of the schoolyard and they would run alongside us.”

The affable Rodgers, who figures he has run some 165,000 miles over the course of his career, made his third appearance in the race as part of a celebrity pace group.

“I was glad to not have to push as hard as I could because this was hard enough,” he said. “I’m getting a little creaky.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

Abebe Bikila 1960, 64& Feyisa Lilesa 2016