Tomas Abyu

Tomas Abyu (born 5 May 1978) is an Ethiopian-born British long-distance runner.

Abyu grew up in the Arsi region of Ethiopia, as a junior he trained with Gezahegne Abera.[1] Abyu left Ethiopia where his father had been killed in the civil war.[2] He came to the United Kingdom as a political refugee and was given asylum in 2000, becoming a British citizen in 2005.[1]

Abyu made his marathon debut in Manchester in October 2002, winning the event in 2:25:28.[3] He transferred allegiance in 2006 becoming eligible to represent Great Britain in athletics.

He improved to record a marathon personal best of 2:10:37, finishing second, at the Dublin Marathon in Oct 2007.[4] The time was better than Beijing Olympic British team qualifying time (2:12), but the Dublin Marathon was not a recognized event, so Abyu needed to meet the qualifying time at the 2008 London Marathon.[1][2] Unfortunately he finished in a time of 2:15:49, placed 16th and the second Britain behind Dan Robinson.[5]

International Competition

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  United Kingdom
2006 2006 European Athletics Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 27th Marathon 2:20:45

Other Races

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2003 Loch Ness Marathon Inverness, UK 1st Marathon 2:20:59
2003 Sheffield Marathon Sheffield, UK 1st Marathon 2:27:42
2006 London Marathon London, UK 16th Marathon 2:15:50
2006 Sheffield Half Marathon Sheffield, UK 1st Half Marathon 1:04:05
2006 Great Cumbrian Run Carlisle, UK 1st Half Marathon 1:08:22
2006 Windsor Half Marathon Windsor, UK 1st Half Marathon 1:06:27
2007 Four Villages Half Marathon Helsby, UK 1st Half Marathon 1:04:56
2007 Great North Run Newcastle-upon-tyne, UK 4th Half Marathon 1:02:50 (PB)
2007 Dublin Marathon Dublin, Ireland 2nd Marathon 2:10:37 (PB)
2008 London Marathon London, UK 16th Marathon 2:15:49
2008 Four Villages Half Marathon Helsby, UK 1st Half Marathon 1:05:22
2009 London Marathon London, UK 19th Marathon 2:20:09
2010 Loch Ness Marathon Inverness, UK 1st Marathon 2:20:50
2011 London Marathon London, UK 28th Marathon 2:21:25
2011 Loch Ness Marathon Inverness, UK 1st Marathon 2:20:50
2011 Windsor Half Marathon Windsor, UK 1st Half Marathon 1:10:05
2012 Jersey Marathon Jersey, UK 1st Marathon 2:24:43
2014 Loch Ness Marathon Inverness, UK 1st Marathon 2:22:41

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Abyu quick to make a name for himself". The Independent. The Independent. 12 April 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 Richard Lewis (13 April 2008). "Tomas Abyu runs for his life". The Sunday Times. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Power of 10 Manchester Marathon result
  4. ↑ RunBritain Dublin Marathon result 2007
  5. ↑ RunBritain London Marathon result 2008

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.