Lisbon, Portugal – Another great field has been assembled for the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon which on Sunday celebrates its 20th anniversary.

The target for organisers of this IAAF Gold Label Road Race is the World record in the Half Marathon, sweetened by a 50,000 EUR World record bonus. As has been done in the previous two editions, the runners will follow a modified record standard course with the start at sea level.

Leading the charge will be Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea, the four-time World Half Marathon champion and 2009 World silver medalist at 10,000m. The 28-year-old has asked organizers to provide pacesetters to target the 58:33 World record set by Samuel Wanjiru in 2007. Tadese has a career bet of 58:59 from 2007.

Joining Tadese will be Jaouad Gharib of Morocco the two-time World champion in the Marathon and reigning Olympic silver medallist over the longer distance. Gharib, who has a 59:59 personal best, is a regular presence at the race and has collected five top-10 finishes including last year’s runner-up showing.

Kenya will of course also be well represented. Leading the way for the east African powerhouse will be Samuel Kosgei (59:35 PB), the 30Km World record holder (1:27.44); Portugal Half Marathon winner in 2008 and 2009, Silas Sang (1:00:20); Emmanuel Mutai (1:00:39), the 2009 World championships Marathon silver medalist; adn Gideon Ngatuny (59:50), winner of Nagoya Half Marathon in 2008 and 2009. Other Kenyans expected in the mix include Matthew Kisorio (10,000m pb: 27:15.44), who was sixth at the 2009 Cross Country Championships; Sammy Kitwara (58:59); Nicholas Korir (15Km PB 42:59); John Kariuki (60:10); Ernest Kebenei (1:01:39); Peter Kiplagat Sitienei (1:01:25); and Kiplimo Kimutai (59:44).

Ethiopian Melese Asfaw (1:02:35), winner of 2008 and 2009 Shanghai Marathon, could be a factor as well, along with his compatriot Ibrahim Jeilan, a former World Youth and Junior medallist who is still just 20.

Leading Europeans in the field include Spaniard “Chema” Martinez, the 2002 European champion in the 10,000m and runner-up at the continental championships in 2006; Russian Yuri Abramov (1:02:50), who was third at last year’s Houston Marathon.

Leading the domestic charge will be Luís Feiteira (1:03:43), who was fifth at the 2009 Prague Marathon; Helder Ornelas (1:02:57), the runner-up last year in the Saint Denis Half Marathon; and José Ramos (1:03:23), who was ninth in this race last year.

Dita vs. Ndereba in the women’s race

In the women’s field, the focus will be on Romanian Constantina Dita, the 2008 Olympic Marathon champion who has a 1:08:07 PB, and Catherine Ndereba (1:07:53) of Kenya, the two-time Olympic silver medallist in the Marathon.

Others to watch include Kenyans Magdeline Chemjor (1:09:39) and Peninah Arusei (1:08:20), the winner of this year’s Koyang Half Marathon, and Ethiopian Askale Tafa (1:09:37), who was fifth at the 2008 Boston Marathon.

Local eyes will focus on former Olympic, World and European champion Fernanda Ribeiro (1:08:23), and Monica Rosa (1:13:09) who will be looking to improve from her sixth place finish here last year.

The women’s field is not as deep as the men’s but the weather forecast promises good conditions for everyone. Temperatures of 15 C maximum (12 C min) are expected, with light winds and a 30 percent chance of rain.

This race, which boasts a total of 35,000 runners (6000 in the Half Marathon), crosses the Tagus River over the popular 25th of April Bridge.

António Manuel Fernandes for the IAAF

About two-dozen people turned out for the first of three public meetings devoted to finding Seattle’s next police chief. It took place at the Northgate Community Center on Feb. 10. Not unexpectedly, crime was on the minds of some who spoke.

Tunny Vann, a UW student, cited an event that happened the day before, during which a SWAT team showed up a few blocks north of campus. Vann, chair of a campus committee on student safety, said he learned of it after the fact by friends who questioned why they didn’t receive an alert from the campus police department.

“I called UWPD, [they] transferred me to SPD – SPD transferred me to UWPD,” Vann said. Eventually he spoke with a dispatcher, who told him things were under control. “I feel like there’s a lot of miscommunication going on,” he said.

Jens Gundlach, a professor of physics at the University of Washington, said that his house was burglarized about a month ago and many items were stolen. “We called the police of course and they were very responsive,” Gundlach said, adding that the officers were very friendly, “but that’s where it ended.” Despite leaving repeated phone messages, he has been unable to follow up with police.

“All the telephone machines are answering trees – getting you from one machine to the other,” he said, noting that there is no e-mail access to the police. Frustrated that he had to do his own investigating, Gundlach stressed the need for greater accessibility.

Concerns about racial and ethnic diversity were also brought up.

Tsegaye Tewolde, chairman of an Eritrean church in the Pinehurst neighborhood, asked the committee to consider selecting candidates who would employ a more diverse array of officers. He referred to diversity in race, gender and age.

Isela Gutierrez spoke on behalf of the Racial Disparity Project of the Defenders Association. This organization has been providing public defense in Seattle since 1969, and the Racial Disparity Project is an effort to raise public awareness and end racial disparity in law enforcement.

“We hope that you will look for a candidate who will be open to innovations such as pre-booking diversion for low-level drug offenders and other offenders who might be considered eligible – folks who are engaged in non-violent offenses like prostitution,” Gutierrez said.

She added that she felt such innovations are “more likely to have a positive impact on our neighborhoods than the traditional approaches we’ve been using, and are likely to be more cost effective.”

A student who asked name not be printed because he is a minor, gave a perspective as a young black American. He described two events he had witnessed. In the first, a man tried to rob a Wendy’s and seven or eight cops “beat him down.” The second involved “some guys at Nathan Hale High School who tried to kill somebody,” he said. The police were called and soon arrived, but got “shot at,” he said. The police called in a SWAT team, which arrived an hour later and reportedly stopped the crime.

However, the next day, students were talking about the incident and were worried about being victims of violence, he said. In summary, the student believes that “some cops should focus on small things, and some cops should focus on bigger things.”

The city’s Police Chief Search Committee is co-chaired by Charles Rolland, board member and president of the group Community and Parents for Public Schools of Seattle (CPPS), and Kate Joncas, president of the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA). Source: (My Ballard).

Three Eritrean cross country runners win the Scotish six stage race for Shettleston. Two of the winners are Tsegai Tewelde and Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab. read more: