News of Note: 21 December - 28 December

Yelling to take on Dibaba in Edinburgh (21 December 2009) - Briton Hayley Yelling will race against reigning Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba at the Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country permit race on 9 January 2010.

Packed domestic season in 2010 (24 December 2009) - The Ethiopian domestic circuit will feature no fewer than 20 competitions in 2010. In addition, Ethiopians will take part in a number of international competitions around the world.

Bekele Targets 3,000 Meters World Indoor Record (25 December 2009) - Kenenisa Bekele hoping to set a fourth world indoor record next year in Birmingham, England. 3,000 meters is the distance he ran to win his only world indoor title in 2006.

Abyu renews rivalry with Gebrselassie (26 December 2009) - British marathoner Tomas Abyu, originally of Ethiopia, will race against his "hero" Haile Gebrselassie at the 2010 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on January 22.

2009 - End of Year Reviews - IAAF

• ROAD: Running/Race Walking (26 December 2009)
• LONG DISTANCE, Track (27 December 2009)

The revolution in the marathon - 2009 produces an unprecedented explosion in record times (28 December 2009) - 20 different male runners - from just three countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, and Morocco - ran sub-2:07 marathons in 2009.

News of Note: 14 December - 21 December

Ethiopian Running News:

Burka lines up indoor races to tune up for world title defense (15 December 2009) - Gelete Burka has indoor races lined up in Stockholm, Karlsruhe, Birmingham, and Stuttgart before she races in the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha (7-9 March 2010) in defense of her title.

Tirunesh Dibaba Will Return to Reebok Boston Indoor Games (16 December 2009) - 5000 and 10,000-meter gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on 6 February 2010. In her 2007 appearance at the Games, she set an indoor 5000-meter world record (14:27.42).

Barros, Gobena, and Akaba Will Race at Osaka Women's Marathon (17 December 2009) - Amane Gobena, who set a sub-2:27 best in 2009 at 2:26:03, will race in the 31 January 2010 Japanese marathon, along with two other women whose sub-2:27 bests were set in 2009 - Yukiko Akaba of Japan (2:25:40) and Marisa Barros of Portugal (2:26:03).

Bekele and Dibaba announce busy starts to 2010 (21 December 2009) - Ethiopia’s Olympic 5000m and 10000m double winners Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba have a number of races lined up in the early part of 2010.

Other interesting news:

'African runners are excelling because they are natural athletes' (15 December 2009) - Gebreegziabher Gebremariam talks about why be believes African runners are natural athletes.

2009 IAAF Golden League Review (16 December 2009)

Usain Bolt sets world alight again (17 December 2009) - Overview of major running news in 2009.

News of Note: 7 December - 14 December

Ethiopian Running News:

Rotich and Toroitich collect Marathon wins in Las Vegas (7 December 2009) - Kenyans won the December 6 Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas Marathon, with Ethiopians Terefe Yae and Assefa Tesfaye coming in second and third in the men's race, and Serkalem Abrha and Adanech Zekiros third and fourth in the women's race.

Beating the conditions, Manza and Cheptonui take Montferland 15Km wins (7 December 2009) - Kenyan Nicholas Manza wins with a time just two seconds shy of the course record of 42:36 set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2007. Kenyan Wilfred Murgor and Ethiopian Ayele Abshiro round out the top three finishers in the men's race.

Kebede sets record for Marathon triple (8 December 2009) - Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede, 22 years old and a marathon runner for only two and a half years, has achieved the fastest average for three marathons in one calendar year: 2:06:24 for 2009.

Gebrselassie and associates to establish a high altitude training camp (8 December 2009) - Haile Gebrselassie, Belay Welasha and Ethiopian-born Canadian Joseph Kibur have begun construction of a modern athletics village in Sululta, 11km north of Addis Ababa this week.

World record ratified (14 December 2009) - 30km 1:27:49 Haile Gebrselassie ETH, Berlin, GER, 20 Sep 09

Bekele lines-up once more for Edinburgh XC (14 December 2009) - Kenenisa Bekele will attempt to regain the BUPA Great Edinburgh International Cross Country title by returning to race in the IAAF XC Permit race in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, UK on 9 January 2010.

Other running news:

Kenyans winners in 40th Dallas White Rock Marathon (14 December 2009)

Yelling’s golden comeback – European XC, WOMEN’s Races (13 December 2009)

News of Note: 30 November - 6 December

An exciting week for Ethiopian runners!

Ethiopian double at Obudu International (1 December 2009) - Ethiopia's Habtamu Fikadu and Mamitu Deska win the 5th Obudu International Mountain Race in Nigeria on November 28.

Wanjiru and Mikitenko to defend their London titles (2 December 2009) - Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru will race in a competitive men's field which includes Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia, who was second in London last year.

Merga plans world 15km record attack in the Netherlands (2 December 2009) - Deriba Merga will attack on his own world 15km record at the 14th Wincanton Montferland Run in the Netherlands.

Ethiopia - Gebrselassie targets record in Dubai (2 December 2009) - Haile Gebrselassie will return to Dubai in January, to defend his title and looking to break the world record at the 2010 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon.

2:05:18 course record and personal best for Kebede in Fukuoka (6 December 2009) - Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede successfully defended his title as Fukuoka Marathon champion, setting a new course record and personal best. Full results

• PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Kebede vs Mogusu? – Fukuoka Marathon preview (4 December 2009)

Temam and Tadesse take Beirut Marathon titles (6 December 2009) - Ethiopia's Mohammed Temam wins the BLOM Beirut Marathon. Kenyan Eston Ngira and Ethiopian Abraham Yilma take second and third.

• PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Beirut Marathon reflects growing passion for road running (5 December 2009)

Gebremariam out-sprints Medhin, while Cheruiyot breezes in Alcobendas (6 December 2009) - Gebregziabher Gebremariam, Ethiopia's World Cross Country champion, wins the 28th ‘Cross Internacional de la Constitución’ in Madrid.

Ethiopians Girma-Bekele and Deba win men's, women's CIM (6 December 2009) - Tesafaye Girma-Bekele and Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia win the California International Marathon in Sacramento.