Dire Tune

DIRE TUNE
ETHIOPIA

BIRTHDATE:
19 June 1985

PERSONAL BEST:
2:23:44 (Frankfurt, 2010)

WORLD MARATHON MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:

18Apr11 Boston Marathon 6th 2:25:08w
19Apr10 Boston Marathon DNF
23Aug09 IAAF World Championships, Berlin 23rd 2:32:42
20Apr09 Boston Marathon 2nd 2:32:17
02Nov08 ING New York City Marathon 7th 2:29:28
17Aug08 Olympic Games, Beijing 15th 2:31:16
21Apr08 Boston Marathon 1st 2:25:25
02Sep07 IAAF World Championships, Osaka DNF
14Aug05 IAAF World Championships, Helsinki 37th 2:39:13

ADDITIONAL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

31Oct10 Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon 2nd 2:23:44
13Jan08 Houston Marathon 1st 2:24:40
16Apr07 Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon 2nd 2:28:59
14Jan07 Houston Marathon 1st 2:26:52
30Apr06 Country Music Marathon 3rd 2:39:10
12Feb06 Hong Kong Marathon 1st 2:35:15
06Mar05 City of Los Angeles Marathon 4th 2:30:48

CAREER NOTES:

Dire Tune [Arissi] won the closest women's race ever at the 2008 Boston Marathon. After a dramatic battle with Russian Alevtina Biktimirova that went down to the final few hundred meters, Tune prevailed by just two seconds in 2:25:25. Although 15th at the Olympic Games, she was the only one of the three Ethiopians to finish.

Returning to defend her title at Boston in 2009, she wound up on the losing end of an even closest-ever finish, as this time just one second separated her from winner Salina Kosgei of Kenya.

She began 2008 in splendid fashion with her second consecutive Houston Marathon victory in a personal and course record 2:24:40. She also won the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in 2006.

Tune lowered her marathon PR by almost a full minute when she finished second in 2:23:44 at the 2010 Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon.

Although not faring well in IAAF World Championships marathon competitions, she ran a tremendous race at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships 20-K, reaching the finish line in fourth (1:05:16). En route she set personal bests at 10-K (32:01) and 15-K (48:40).

On February 20, 2009 Tune posted her fastest half-marathon with a victorious time of 1:07:18 at Ras Al Khaimah, a new Ethiopian national record.

Tune also set a world-record in the rarely contest one-hour track run in 2008. At the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava on June 12 she covered 18,517 meters in 60 minutes, which was 177 more than the former record set by Tegla Loroupe in 1998.

PERSONAL NOTES:

Tune began running at 16. She is married and enjoys cooking and doing housework.