Deriba Merga

Deriba Merga
Deriba Merga on the way to winning the 2009 Boston Marathon near half way point in Wellesley.
Born	26 October 1980 (1980-10-26) (age 31)
Nationality	Ethiopian
Occupation	Long distance runner

Deriba Merga Ejigu (Amharic: ደርባ መርጋ አጅጉ; born 26 October 1980) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.

Merga made his international debut in 2006, winning the Paris Half Marathon in a time of 60:45. Later that year, he finished sixth at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships, helping Ethiopia to a bronze medal in the team competition. In December that year he won the Montferland Run 15 km race in a course record time of 42:48. He took the half marathon gold medal at the 2007 All-Africa Games but just missed out on a medal at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships, finishing in fourth place.

He made his marathon debut at the Fukuoka Marathon in December 2007, finishing second to Sammy Wanjiru. He opened 2008 with a win at the World's Best 10K in Puerto Rico. He finished sixth at London in April that year, running a personal best of 2:06:38. In August, he finished fourth in the Olympic marathon, after being passed by teammate Tsegay Kebede in the final 400 m. Later in the year he won the Delhi Half Marathon, and defended his title in 2009.

In May 2009, he sped to victory at the World 10K Bangalore, holding off a challenge from Mark Kiptoo.^[1] Merga won the Chevron Houston Marathon in 2:07:52, setting a course record in the process. He was disappointed, however, having wanted to run a 2:05, a time bettered by only a handful of runners.^[2]

Three months later, Merga won the 113th Boston Marathon on April 20, 2009, with a time of 2:08:42.^[3] Merga endured a very fast start and made a solo break for the finish, winning convincingly by almost a minute. In May, he ran a 27:23 10k in Ottawa.

Merga set his sights on defending his title at the 2010 Boston Marathon and upped the race tempo around the 18-mile mark. He moved away from the pack but was followed by Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot and Tekeste Kebede. Merga faded in the final stages and ended up in third place.^[4] He returned to defend his crown at the World 10K Bangalore in May, but was half a minute off the pace and finished in fourth place.^[5] Later that month he ran at the Ottawa 10K and was third in a time of 28:41, finishing behind the pacemaker, Lelisa Desessa, who continued for the victory.^[6]

He set a course record of 1:02:31 at the Bogota Half Marathon in August, easily seeing off the more favoured Zersenay Tadese and Isaac Macharia.^[7] He entered the Chuncheon Marathon in October as the provisional favourite but dropped out of the race after 35 km.^[8] He put the disappointment behind him at the Major General Hayelom Araya 15km Championships in February 2011, where he dominated his national rivals – his time of 41:54.84 left him with a winning margin of 45 seconds and brought him an African all-comers record for the distance.^[9] He headed to the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon soon after and immediately assumed the lead in the race, running a world best for 8 km and winning the event in a time of 59:25 minutes.^[10]

His first marathon of 2011 came at the Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan and a duel between Deriba and Wilson Kipsang saw the Ethiopian finish in the runner-up spot.^[11] He took his second win of the year over half that distance at the Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon.^[12]

Personal bests

• Half marathon – 59:14 (New Delhi, 2008)
• Marathon – 2:06:38 (London, 2008)

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Ethiopia
2006	World Road Running Championships	Debrecen, Hungary	6th	20 km
			3rd	Team
	Paris Half Marathon	Paris, France	1st	Half marathon	1:00:45
2007	All-Africa Games	Algiers, Algeria	1st	Half marathon
	World Road Running Championships	Udine, Italy	4th	Half marathon
			3rd	Team
2008	Summer Olympics	Beijing, China	4th	Marathon	2:10:21
2009	Houston Marathon	Houston, United States	1st	Marathon	2:07:52
	Boston Marathon	Boston, United States	1st	Marathon	2:08:42
	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	—	Marathon	DNF
2010	Bogota Half Marathon	Bogotá, Colombia	1st	Half marathon	1:02:31 CR

References

1. ^ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2009-05-31). Merga and Mergia take thrilling 10km victories in Bangalore. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-09.
2. ^ http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2009/01/16/Merga_shooting_for_marathon_record/UPI-42251232140917/
3. ^ Golen, Jimmy (April 20, 2009). "Deriba Merga, Salina Kosgei win at Boston Marathon". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/running/articles/2009/04/20/theyre_off_at_the_boston_marathon_1240214440/. Retrieved 2009-04-20. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Morse, Parker (2010-04-19). Cheruiyot smashes Boston record with 2:05:52 sizzler - Boston Marathon report. Retrieved on 2010-04-25.
5. ^ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2010-05-23). Mbishei, Yimer the surprise winners in Sunfeast World 10K. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-09.
6. ^ Desisa and Tune take Ottawa 10Km titles. IAAF (2010-05-30). Retrieved on 2010-06-01.
7. ^ Kuehls, Dave (2010-08-01). Merga and Amare Triumph - Bogota International Half Marathon report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-08-02.
8. ^ Jalava, Mirko (2010-10-24). Kiptoo smashes Chuncheon record with 2:07:54 victory. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-10-27.
9. ^ Negash, Elshadai (2011-02-13). Fast 41.54 for Merga in Bahir Dar. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-15.
10. ^ Hutchings, Tim (2011-02-18). Keitany smashes Half Marathon World record in Ras Al Khaimah - UPDATED. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-18.
11. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2011-03-06). 2:06:13 course record for Kipsang at Lake Biwa. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-03-06.
12. ^ Jalava, Mirko (2011-04-25). Merga and Dibaba sweep for Ethiopia in Yangzhou. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-04-29.

• Biyyaa, Qeerransoo (2009-20-04). Oromiya's (Ethiopia's) Deriba Merga Wins the Men's Boston Marathon. American Chronicle. Retrieved on 2009-05-15.

External links

• IAAF profile for Deriba Merga
• marathoninfo

Sporting positions
Preceded by Samuel Wanjiru	Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance (tied with Haile Gebrselassie) 2008	Succeeded by Patrick Makau

Persondata
Name	Merga, Deriba
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	26 October 1980
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death