Mulu Seboka

Mulu Seboka Seyfu (born 25 September 1984) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes mainly in marathons. She represented Ethiopia in the marathon at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and in the half marathon at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships. She has won marathons on four continents and holds a personal best of 2:21:56 hours.

Career She had her first significant win at the Valencia Marathon in 2003. She dipped under two hours forty minutes for the distance at the Maratona di Sant'Antonio in 2004 and had her second win at the Mumbai Marathon a year later. She knocked over four minutes off her best at the 2005 London Marathon, recording 2:30:54 hours to place ninth. In 2006, she defended her Mumbai title and improved to 2:30:41 hours at the Nagoya Women's Marathon, finishing ninth at the high calibre race. A personal best of 2:30:03.2 hours was enough to secure a third career win in Mumbai in 2008 and at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon she became the first woman to win in under two and a half hours, with her course record time of 2:29:05.9 hours.

Mulu failed in her defence of her Toronto title, as compatriot Amane Gobena bettered her course record, leaving her as the runner-up. She had three straight wins in the second half of 2010, topping the field at the Trierer Stadauf, City to Surf marathon, and the Melbourne Marathon. She competed mainly over shorter distances in 2011 and won at the Cincinnati Half Marathon, Savannah Half Marathon, and Tulsa Run.

In 2015, she tried to defend her Dubai title, but in spite of a new best of 2:21:56 hours, she only finished in sixth place. She had fifth-place finishes at the 2015 Chicago Marathon and the 2016 Dubai Marathon.

International competitions

Circuit wins

Marathons Dubai Marathon: 2014 Daegu Marathon: 2014 Jakarta Marathon: 2013 Guangzhou Marathon: 2012 City to Surf (Perth): 2010 Melbourne Marathon: 2010 Toronto Waterfront Marathon: 2008, 2014 Mumbai Marathon: 2005, 2006, 2008 Valencia Marathon: 2003

Other distances Adana Half Marathon: 2013 Darıca Half Marathon: 2012 Cincinnati Half Marathon: 2011 Savannah Half Marathon: 2011 Trierer Stadtlauf: 2010 Istanbul 15K: 2012 Tulsa Run: 2011

Personal bests 10K run – 32:42 (2011) Half Marathon – 69:11 (2015) Marathon – 2:21:56 (2015)