Toronto, September 26, 2010 - Beraki Beyene Zerea finished 9th in his first Toronto Marathon. The conditions were ideal for long distance running with cool temperatures in the early morning and warming up by mid-race. Over 20,000 runners and 42 countries participated in this year’s half-marathon (21 km) and marathon (42 km). Beraki was the sole representative from Eritrea and did not have the advantage of team runners to support him like other elite runners from Kenya and Ethiopia. He kept pace with the lead pack until the 37 km mark where cramps began to slow him down.

Beraki finished with an official time of 2:11:22, becoming the first ever Eritrean marathoner to qualify for the Olympics. The race was won by Kenneth Mungara of Kenya with a time of 2:07:58. Athletes must run under 2:15:00 at an IAAF sanctioned marathon to automatically qualify for the Olympics. We look forward to supporting and cheering for Beraki in London 2012. Until then, he will have several opportunities to better his time set in Toronto, of which he is confident of doing.

The Toronto Eritrean community held a benefit dinner in his honour later in the evening. Beraki spoke of his surprise and appreciation of the reception he received. There are many young runners in Eritrea that will be on the world stage very soon due to the efforts of the Eritrean Sports Commission he added. He concluded by encouraging parents to involve their children in all sports.

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YPFDJ-Toronto

Press Release