Teyba Erkesso facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Teyba Erkesso

Erkesso on the way to winning the 2010 Boston Marathon near halfway point
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Bronze	2004 Brussels	Short race

Teyba Erkesso Wako (born 30 October 1982) is a famous runner from Ethiopia. She is known for her amazing skills in road running, which includes long-distance races like the half marathon and marathon. She also competes in cross-country running, which involves running over natural terrain.

Teyba started running for her country when she was just sixteen years old. She quickly showed her talent, winning her first gold medal at the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She helped the Ethiopian women's team win that competition. Early in her career, Teyba was a very important part of the Ethiopian team, helping them win many medals in international events. Her first individual medal was a bronze medal in the short race at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

She became especially well-known for her success in road running. She won the Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale when she was 21. In 2007, she decided to focus more on road running. After finishing fourth at the 2009 Chicago Marathon, she set a new personal best time of 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 53 seconds at the Houston Marathon. In 2010, she won two big races: the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon and the famous Boston Marathon. Teyba is often remembered for how she pushes the pace in the middle of a race, like she did in Boston and Houston, to pull ahead of other runners.

Teyba Erkesso's Running Journey

Teyba Erkesso's first big race for Ethiopia was in 1999. She competed in the 1999 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships when she was sixteen. She finished 38th in that race.

Early Team Success

In 2001, she improved to 20th place at the same event. This helped the Ethiopian women's team win a bronze medal. The next year, at the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, she finished tenth. More importantly, she helped Ethiopia win the gold medal in the team competition. She raced again at the World Half Marathon Championships in 2003. She finished 21st, and her team placed fourth. One of her first wins in a road race was the Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale in 2003. She completed the half marathon in 1 hour, 10 minutes, and 7 seconds.

Winning Medals in Cross Country

In 2004, Teyba competed in both the long and short races at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Brussels. She finished fifth in the long race, helping her team win a gold medal. Then, she won her first individual medal, a bronze, in the short race. Her team also won another gold medal in that event. She continued her success in cross country, winning the IAAF's Lotto Cross Cup Brussels meeting two years in a row, in 2005 and 2006. She ran in two races again at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She finished twelfth in the short race, helping her team win a gold medal. However, she was 46th in the long race.

Marathon Victories

In 2007, Teyba won the Vancouver Sun Run 10K race. In 2009, she won the Bay to Breakers race with a time of 38 minutes and 29 seconds. That same year, she just missed a medal at the Chicago Marathon, finishing fourth. She won the Houston Marathon in 2009, setting a new record for the state. She improved this record with a second win in 2010, running the marathon in 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 53 seconds.

In 2010, she also set a new personal best in the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, finishing fourth with a time of 1 hour, 7 minutes, and 41 seconds. In April of that year, she won her first major marathon, the Boston Marathon, with a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 11 seconds. She took the lead halfway through the race and kept increasing it. She managed to hold off Tatyana Pushkareva in the final part of the race to win. In June, she ran in the Freihofer's Run for Women and finished fourth. Teyba missed most of the 2011 season. Her only race was the 2011 Boston Marathon, but she did not finish it. She also had to stop early in her first race of 2012, the Ottawa Marathon.

Achievements and Medals

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Ethiopia
1999	World Half Marathon Championships	Palermo, Italy	38th	Half marathon
2001	World Half Marathon Championships	Bristol, United Kingdom	20th	Half marathon
			3rd	Team
2002	World Cross Country Championships	Dublin, Ireland	10th	Long race
			1st	Team
2003	World Half Marathon Championships	Vilamoura, Portugal	21st	Half Marathon
			4th	Team
	Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale	Marseille, France	1st	Half Marathon
2004	World Cross Country Championships	Brussels, Belgium	5th	Long race
			1st	Team
			3rd	Short race
			1st	Team
	World Half Marathon Championships	New Delhi, India	15th	Half marathon
			1st	Team
2006	World Cross Country Championships	Fukuoka, Japan	12th	Short race
			1st	Team
			48th	Long race
	World Road Running Championships	Debrecen, Hungary	10th	20 km
			2nd	Team
2007	All-Africa Games	Algiers, Algeria	5th	10,000 m
2009	Houston Marathon	Houston, United States	1st	Marathon	2:24:15
2010	Houston Marathon	Houston, United States	1st	Marathon	2:23:53
	Boston Marathon	Boston, United States	1st	Marathon	2:26:11

Personal Best Times

These are Teyba Erkesso's fastest times in different running events:

• 3000 metres - 8 minutes, 56.67 seconds (2006)
• 5000 metres - 15 minutes, 2.28 seconds (2004)
• 10,000 metres - 31 minutes, 13.67 seconds (2007)
• Half marathon - 1 hour, 7 minutes, 41 seconds (2010)
• Marathon - 2 hours, 23 minutes, 53 seconds (2010)