Eisa and Barega secure Ethiopian double at Great Manchester Run

There are not many road records still standing from 2007, but one has just survived for another 12 months.

Micah Kogo’s men’s course record of 27:21 from that year’s Great Manchester Run – then the seventh quickest in history but now just the 135th – is still on the books thanks to a considerable head wind in the ‘back’ part of this course starting and ending in Manchester city centre.

It no doubt played a part in Selemon Barega’s winning time of 27:49, though the difficult element didn’t seem to bother emerging Ethiopian star Medina Eisa, who triumphed with impressive negative splits in the women’s race in 30:42.

Eisa was part of a nine-woman group at halfway with former winners Gotytom Gebreslase and Hellen Obiri. They passed 5km in 15:36, then Eisa let rip with a 2:59 sixth kilometre. Manchester United’s football ground Old Trafford looked down as Eisa put the opposition out of sight with a 2:58 seventh kilometre. That tempo slowed but she still continued to pull away with a 15:08 second half.

Obiri battled Gebreslase for second, but then both were closed down and passed by USA’s Emily Sisson, who finished second in 31:03.

A lot has happened to Barega since his last road 10km race at age 17 in 2017. On that occasion he won the Great Ethiopian Run in 28:37; now he has won the ‘Great’ Manchester 10km in 27:49. In the meantime, of course, he became Olympic 10,000m champion in 2021, but now his priority is road running.

The race came down to him, defending champion Vincent Ngetich and the exciting Uruguayan, Santiago Catrofe. That trio broke clear at halfway. Then, in the last kilometre, the Ethiopian showed some of the speed which took him to gold at Tokyo 2021.

Apart from the wind, conditions were perfect on a day when more than 30,000 contested waves of races at both 10km and half marathons. The starting gun was jointly fired by the 1964, 2004 and 2024 Olympic 800m champions: Ann Packer (now 83), Kelly Holmes and Keely Hodgkinson.

Leading results

Women

1 Medina Eisa (ETH) 30:42

2 Emily Sisson (USA) 31:03

3 Gotytom Gebreslase (ETH) 31:11

4 Hellen Obiri (KEN) 31:16

5 Isobel Batt-Doyle (AUS) 31:30

6 Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) 31:35

Men

1 Selemon Barega (ETH) 27:49

2 Santiago Catrofe (URU) 27:52

3 Vincent Ngetich (KEN) 27:58

4 Mosinet Geremew (ETH) 28:21

5 Alfie Manthorpe (GBR) 28:22

6 Brett Robinson (AUS) 28:27

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