6 March 2010 – Sule Utura recorded an impressive win in this morning’s 2010 Choice WOMEN FIRST 5km, breaking last year’s course record set by Aselefech Mergia by more than 13 seconds.

In her first appearance in this event which started in 2004, Utura broke clear in the final kilometre of the race after a group of four led by Koreni Jelila and Makida Haruna had forced the pace in the middle part of the race.
Utura’s win earned her a prize of 8,000 birr plus a course record bonus of 2,000 birr. Jelila won 4000 birr for second place but finished more than sixteen seconds behind the winner.
More than 200 of Addis Ababa’s club athletes took part in the race which has become known as an important stepping stone for young athletes en route towards international honours.
The first ambassador to finish was Danish Ambassador Pernille Kardel in a time of just under 33 minutes.
ETV showed live coverage of the race which was started by Meseret Defar and Haile Gebrselassie, the latter of whom had returned from Hawassa (275km from Addis Ababa) earlier in the morning especially for the race.