NYRR Media Center

Girma Bekele Gebre finished in a surprise third place at the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon, running a four-plus minute personal-best 2:08:23. He used his prize money from the race to help his family’s farm in Ethiopia. He won two other NYRR races that year, the Italy Run 5 Mile and Japan Run 4 Mile, and was honored as the Fred Lebow Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night the following January.

Gebre, who competes for West Side Runners, has split his time training between New York and Ethiopia, racing mostly along the East Coast. In 2019, he moved back to Ethiopia after the death of one of his six brothers, and stayed there during the COVID-19 pandemic to work on a family farm. In Ethiopia, he normally trains on gravel or paths in the woods, running for more than two hours at a time for workouts that can last up to 25 miles.

In New York, Gebre was also second at the 2019 UAE Healthy Kidney 10K, 19th at the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon, and third at the 2017 Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K. His brother, Alemu Bekele, competed in the last two Olympic marathons, representing Bahrain.