Press Release - London Marathon - 4/9/14

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

           Haile the Inspiration for Sunday's Young Ethiopians
 
Ibrahim Jeilan was inspired by fellow countryman Haile Gebrselassie to take 
up running after watching the Ethiopian legend beat Paul Tergat to win the 
Olympic 10,000m final in Sydney 2000.

In Sunday's Virgin Money London Marathon, Gebrselassie will pace Jeilan at 
the head of an elite field containing four of the fastest 10 runners in 
history and seven from the all-time top 20, taking them to 30km on world 
record schedule. The young Ethiopian believes the great man's presence will 
be all the motivation he needs for a fast time.

"I didn't ever compete against Haile, so I will be happy to stand on the 
start line with our great runner," said the 24-year-old. "With Haile 
pacing, we have a good chance of a fast time."

The 2011 world 10,000m champion is going into his marathon debut confident 
he can give a good account of himself, and aiming for a time under 2:06:00.

"I've prepared very well," he said. "I know there are many strong athletes 
here - all the fastest athletes are here - so I'm not going to worry about 
who's here and what they're going to do. I know I've prepared well and I 
can do something good myself."

Jeilan defeated Mo Farah to take the World Championships title three years 
ago and has happy memories of racing in the UK in 2008 when he won the 
world junior cross country title in Edinburgh. Like Jeilan, Farah will also 
make his 26.2-mile debut this weekend.

 "I can't say I'll beat him (Mo) again as we all prepare to win and to beat 
one another, but I've prepared well and something good will happen," he 
said. "I can't say he'll win either, but he'll do something good."

Tsegaye Mekonnen was also inspired by an Ethiopian. The 18-year-old watched 
Tsegaye Kebede take victory in London 12 months ago and knew he had to work 
hard to match such an impressive performance. This January he made a 
sensational marathon debut in Dubai when he won in 2:04:32, a world best 
time for a junior athlete.

"I was watching TV when Tsegaye won last year and at that time I didn't 
expect to be here today.  I was inspired by Tsegaye to work hard," said 
Mekonnen, now the 11th fastest marathon runner of all time.

"When I started this running business I began at short distances but didn't 
have such good results. I spoke with my manager and we decided to train for 
the marathon, and after a good result in Dubai I began intensive training 
for London."

Kebede may have inspired him to commit to the full marathon distance, but 
it's Gebrselassie who's motivating him to go quicker still on Sunday, as 
the young pretender is now targeting the great athlete's national record. 
"He will push us to get good results," said Mekonnen.

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