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From Bochesa to Cape Town, Ethiopian athlete Tadu Nare comes down the mountain

STEPHEN GRANGER

IT’S Sunday, 23rd October 2022, and the final SPAR Women’s Grand Prix 10km race at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town is underway. Three green-vested athletes, Tadu Nare, Helalia Johannes, and Selam Gebre, form a small lead group through the halfway mark. The rest of the athletes are running for fourth place at best.

Johannes, the Namibian winner of the 2019 SPAR Grand Prix title, leads this trio. But not long after, Nare, the smallest of the three, takes command of the race, opening a wide gap between her and the two until she crosses the finish line in an impressive 31:53.

She walks away with the prize money of 190,000 Rand after defending the title she won for the first time in 2021.

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Born in Bochesa, in the Arbegona district of Ethiopia, Nare has been running since her primary school days. And in a country where world-beating athletes, such as the Dibaba sisters, have raced from poverty to global fame, running is seen as a golden ticket. When young athletes show unusual talent, they are often allowed to hone their running skills for stardom.

Nare excelled at distance running throughout her schooling and attracted the attention of Belay Alemayehu, manager and coach of a Nedbank Running Club camp for athletes in Addis Ababa, home to some of the world’s best distance athletes.

Alemayehu invited her to join this club, which focuses on developing young athletes. Nare’s outstanding abilities soon made Alemayehu contact Nedbank Club Manager, Nick Bester, to ask if they could sponsor the then-18-year-old athlete to compete in the 2019 SPAR Grand Prix Series in South Africa.

Recalling the event, Bester said:

“Three years ago he (Alemayehu) suggested we sponsor one of his new athletes, who he felt had potential. We backed his choice of Tadu Nare. She was just eighteen when she came to race in South Africa, but she ran so well and placed second to Helalia Johannes in the SPAR Grand Prix Series that year.”

READ:  Ethiopian athlete Tadu Nare comes down the mountain

In addition to competing in the SPAR series that year, Nare raced the Nelson Mandela Half Marathon, which doubled as the 2019 Athletics South Africa Half Marathon Championship. She surprised many experienced athletes when she clocked 1:10:21 to finish third place.

Although Nare’s results have earned her invitations to several international races, she still returns to Gqeberha, South Africa, each year to compete in the Nelson Mandela Half Marathon. In 2021, she emerged first at 1:09:09 and was over a minute faster in June this year, finishing third at 1:07:55.

But the single race which brought Nare public acclaim was her victory in the Copenhagen Half Marathon in September 2022, winning the race at 1:06:13.

But where does her exceptional talent come from?

While Alemayehu recognised her natural talent, he emphasised that it was only part of what made Nare a great athlete.

“Her natural gift gets her 70% of the way, but she also has the character which provides the other 30%. She is disciplined, a hard worker and very smart.”

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Bester concurred. “First and foremost, you must have the genes to make a great athlete. Tadu has that. Other factors that have helped her succeed are living at a high altitude, having a brilliant coach and the support from Nedbank. She still has a lot to prove but is young and has time on her side.

Nare is fulfilling a dream to help change the lives of her family and has put her earnings to good use.

“I’m building a house for my parents in Bochesa. It’s not yet finished, but I’m hoping to be able to have it completed soon. And I’ve bought a plot in Addis where I can build a home for myself in the future,” she said.

READ:  Ethiopian athlete Tadu Nare comes down the mountain

“I’m happy at my training camp in Addis. There are around five or six centres in Addis where elite athletes train. We have a good track and off-road trails nearby, where I do most of my training. I’m lucky to have a good coach who I can trust to look after my interests. Despite my youth, he has encouraged me to run a few marathons abroad to build my strength and endurance, and that seems to be paying off,” added the 21-year-old.

Although Nare has excelled in her two marathons thus far, winning in Barcelona last November and Riyadh in March, she is adamant that, for now, marathons a simply a means to an end. She aims to make the Ethiopian women’s 10,000m team in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

However, Cape Town remains a favourite destination for her.

“I’ve loved racing in Cape Town in recent years both on track and on the roads. Elana (van Zyl) gave me a chance to compete in the Endurocad track meeting at Stellenbosch last year and I ran my best 1500m time by 7 seconds – 4 min 13,71 sec. Then I raced on the Green Point track this year and was timed at 4:45,28 for the mile – my personal best time.”

Nare travels to Valencia in early December to race in one of the world’s fastest marathons, hoping to break her personal best time and increase her chances of making the Paris Olympic team.






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By The African Mirror

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