Posted: October 8, 2005

Athletics: Berhanu Pulls Out Of Chicago

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Elshadai Negash

Ethiopian short course cross country champion Dejene Berhanu has pulled out of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on Sunday with a muscle strain.

Berhanu, who has been preparing to make his marathon debut in the windy city this weekend, had been the only Ethiopian set to compete in one of the world’s top five marathons, but suffered a muscle strain in training early this week. “I had covered about 6kms of my training in the outskirts of Addis Ababa when I suddenly felt the pain,” said Berhanu. “I had to be carried to the hospital with other runners.”

Berhanu added that he was devastated by his latest injury setback. “I am very disappointed,” he said. “I cannot do anything about it. Everyone was expecting me to do well in Chicago. My manager [Mark Wetmore] and even the organizers were anticipating my trip to Chicago.”

The 25-year old is currently undergoing treatment in Addis Ababa and said that his situation is improving. “There is an improvement from earlier in the week,” he said.

Berhanu loves road running having smashed the UK All-comers record in the BUPA Great North Run 2004 and finishing second over the same race this year to Eritrean Zeresenay Tadesse. He is also a two-time winner of the Carlsbad World Best 5k.