Easy win for Gebrselassie

Ethiopian ace bounces back

Last Updated: October 25, 2011 10:49am

Haile Gebrselassie: Birmingham winner

Haile Gebrselassie returned to winning ways with an easy victory in the BUPA Great Birmingham Run on Sunday.

The 38-year-old Ethiopian dropped out of last month's BMW Berlin Marathon during the race because of illness, but was back to form over half-marathon distance, winning in one hour, one minute and 29 seconds.

The race began at a moderate pace but Gebrselassie made his move between seven and eight miles and cruised to the finish line, with Qatar's Essa Rashed placing second in 1hr 2mins 28secs.

Morocco's Abderrahime Bouramdane took third place in 1:03:57.

Gebrselassie said: "It was a fantastic race for me except for the wind and it was really hard between 11 and 12 miles.

"This helps me in my preparations for next year's Olympic Games where of course I still have to get the qualifying standard. That means to get one of the three places in the Ethiopian team I will have to run around 2:05.

"I am totally focused on getting the qualifier. Today was kind of a training run towards doing that. The three fastest will go to London."

The women's race was dominated by British athletes, and won by Gemma Steel in 1:12:21, ahead of Louise Damen (1:13:51) and Lucy MacAlister (1:15:30).

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Easy win for Gebrselassie

Ethiopian ace bounces back

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