Siraj Gena

Siraj Amda Gena, also known as Giday Amha and Siraj Amda Bene, (born 12 November 1984) is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He won his first race in 2010, beating all-comers at the Rome City Marathon to set a personal best of 2:08:39.

He began his professional career in 2005 and he set a personal best time of 2:11:26 to finish third in the Dubai Marathon. He returned to the race the following year and came one place further to winning, although he would have won if Joseph Ngeny Kiprotich, initially brought in as a pacemaker, hadn't decided to continue and finish the race instead. He competed in Asia for a second time that year and took fifth place at the Nagano Marathon, although he was leading the race throughout right until the 30 km mark. He failed to make much progression in the 2007 and 2008; years which were highlighted by a 13th-place finish at the Amsterdam Marathon and a fourth place at the Nagano Marathon, respectively.

He took part in the Frankfurt Marathon for the first time in 2009 and although he finished in ninth position, he set a personal best of 2:10:41. Gena began to make his mark on the road running circuit in 2010 as he began the year with a second-place finish behind Denis Ndiso at the Mumbai Marathon (an IAAF Gold Label Road Race). His first ever marathon win soon followed: he ran his fastest ever time (2:08:39) to gain victory at the Rome City Marathon. The event was made more special by the fact that it was in honour of the 50th anniversary of Ethiopian Abebe Bikila's Olympic gold in the 1960 Rome Olympic marathon, in which he became the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal. Gena marked the occasion by removing his shoes to run barefoot for the last 300 metres, mirroring the shoe-less running style of Bikila and earning a 5000€ bonus in the process.

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