News

Dec. 12, 2009 - Course de Noel, Sion, Switzerland

World-class women race in Sion

This year's Course de Noel proved to be as exciting as any world-class distance race on the track, as some of the world's best toed the line.

Although originally just in Switzerland to visit friends, Ejiguyu Dibaba (older sister to Tirunesh) accepted race organizers' invitation to go head-to-head with 2009 New York Marathon winner Deretu Tulu. Interestingly, these two athletes are no strangers, infact, they are actually part of the same family as Tulu is aunt to the Dibaba sisters...saying they're a talented family is an understatement.

Also in the field were top Kenyan women and two young up-and-coming, yet unknown for the moment, Ethiopians. One of the latter, Aster Tesfa, actually spent the last month in Lausanne, Switzerland training with close friend Maryam Jamal and Hilary.

"People have no idea just how many talented athletes there are in Ethiopia, just waiting for chance to be invited to international competition to prove themselves and make a living," says Hilary. "I think this is a huge part of their motivation, but I'm definitely not going to be one of those athletes to complain about having too many Africans in the race - I welcome the competition and actually have learned a lot about dedication and motivation from the Ethiopian athletes (after visiting the country and training with athletes) which has only helped me become a better athlete."

As the women's race got underway, it was business from the start as Dibaba set a fast pace and only the other African women tried to follow. She eventually pulled away and it was a matter of who would "die" the least from the blistering early pace. Tulu yet again displayed her marathon strength crossing the line second, some 30 seconds after Dibaba who ran 15:46 for a new course record.

Hilary opted for a more conservative early pace, which left her racing the clock and chasing the lead pack of 6 women, eventually catching just one to come 6th, to her dismay.

"I made the decision to back off the lead pack who went out pretty fast, but I was definitely too timid and ended up allowing too much distance to come between us, which I couldn't make up in the end," said Hilary after the race. "I should have taken more of a risk - maybe I would have ended up in the same place, but at least I would have known my limits - it served as a good competitive reminder to take advantage of every race opportunity and not hold back."

Although a bit disappointed after the race, Hilary said the last few races have given her confidence in her fitness and the racing experiences have been great reminders of race strategy and mental focus that will help leading into track season.

See full results of Sion here.

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