Paced by her pacemaker,

Paced by her pacemaker, Fotyen Tesfay ran her secondsub-64-minute half marathon in Berlin – something noother woman in the world has achieved.– 74 –

Tesfay’s race was a one-womanshow: she stormedfrom start to finish in commandingfashion, delivering themost impressive performanceof the day. Her splits in the firsthalf were close to the world-recordpace of her compatriot LetesenbetGidey (62:52). WhenTesfay passed the 10K mark in29:54, it indicated a projectedfinish time of 63:07. For context:no woman in Germany hasever run a standalone 10K raceunder 30 minutes. Althoughshe couldn’t quite maintainthat blistering pace in the secondhalf, Tesfay – paced by herdesignated pacer – hit 15 km in45:02.Her winning time of 63:35smashed the previous courserecord of 65:02 by almost a minuteand a half – all the moreimpressive given the cold andwindy conditions. Tesfay notonly ran the fifth-fastest timein history, she also set a worldbesttime for the year. And shebecame the only woman tohave twice run under 64 minutesover 21.0975 km.The Third-FastestWoman in HistoryBack in October, Tesfay ran63:21 in Valencia, becoming thethird-fastest woman of all time.“The course is great, but it wasextremely windy, and the coldwas tough for me. The weatherreally caught me off guard,”said the 27-year-old. “But Ifound my rhythm and I’m thrilledwith such a strong time.”Originally a middle-distanceand cross-country runner, Tesfaymade her half marathon debutat the Great North Run inNewcastle in 2019, finishing in70:26. Then came the COVID-19pandemic, putting her careeron hold.She didn’t return to internationalcompetition until 2023– but immediately impressed,finishing fifth at the WorldCross Country Championships– 75 –