Gebreselassie to lead Tassie half marathon team
05 Jul 2013
Gebreselassie to Lead Tassie Team on Gold Coast
Four Tasmanian men have been selected to represent the state at this weekends Australian Half Marathon Championships, lead by state champion Dejen Gebreselassie of Hobart.
David Bailey, Dejen Gebreselassie, Jarrod Gibson and Alex Humphrey and will all line up in the green and red on Sunday morning, facing off against more than 10,000 eager participants.
The race is being held at the prestigious Gold Coast Airport Marathon, where almost 30,000 participants will take part in a number of races over the two day festival weekend. Hundreds of Tasmanian's traditionally flock to the event, known for its fast course, supreme organisation and a great winter escape to the tourist hot spot.
Gebreselassie is the main man in the Tasmanian bunch. The current Tasmanian half marathon champion shot to promise at the 21.1km distance when he placed third overall at this years Cadbury Half Marathon. On Sunday he will face off again against the man who won that day, Olympian Marty Dent, along with a host of national stars including Lee Troop, Liam Adams, Harry Summers and Ben Ashkettle.
Alex Humphrey has previously represented the state on several occasions, mainly at recent editions of the Australian Marathon Championships in Melbourne. This week he drops down in distance to the 21.1km half marathon and will be an integral part of the team. While Bailey and Gibson are both on debut as open level road running state representatives.
The teams competition amongst states will be tough, with each state and territory being represented. Australian championship medals will be presented to the top three individual placegetters, with the first three across the line from each team contributing to the teams winners.