Recent Results and Upcoming Schedule

A quick update on Berihun's post-Maccabiah racing results:
Berihun ran two races in Belgium this week. On Sunday night he ran a 5000m race in the Flander's Cup in Brasschaat, Belgium. He won his heat in 14:18, but he was somewhat disappointed because he was placed in the 2nd heat where he was unable to achieve his goal of breaking 14:00 as it ended up being a slow tactical race where Berihun was forced to do much of the pacemaking work. Here is a link to the results (see page 10):http://www.acbreak.be/IntMeeting/090726.pdf. On Tuesday night, Berihun ran a 3000m race in Oudenaarde, Belgium where he again won his heat and set a personal best for the distance, recording a finishing time of 8:23.73. He hopes that these two results will get him seeded in faster heats going forward giving him an opportunity to run better times.
Upcoming races for Berihun tentatively include a 5k in Belgium on August 2 and another 5k in Amsterdam the following week.
Looking a bit further ahead, Berihun's schedule includes the Half Marathon World Championship in Birmingham, UK in October and then Israel's Half Marathon Championship in Beit Shean in December.

Thanks and help Berihun get faster

After a long day, we want to add one last note thanking everyone on Team Berihun for being so generous to this cause, and to share a final memory from the Maccabiah victory.

After winning the 10k and finishing with an excellent time, Berihun still had to scrounge for a hitchhike ride back home after his victory, and he still works long days, rising at 6 to feed his family. The same difficult situation that we found so poignant when we met him in December still prevails, which is why he still needs our help.

Someone ultimately gave Berihun a lift back home after the race. But he could definitely use a lift from you. Major thanks to everyone who has donated. For everyone else:

Please send checks made out to the Keter Torah Charity Fund (for tax-exemption purposes; every cent is disbursed to this cause) and earmarked Team Berihun. Mail to:

Rafi Rosenbaum
399 Churchill Road
Teaneck, NJ 07666

Or donate online:

Write "Team Berihun" in the purpose box and all funds will be processed through tax-exempt bodies in the U.S. and Israel and disbursed directly to Berihun and his family.

Thank you!

Berihun wins Maccabiah 10k in 29:56

From Team Berihun

Watch Berihun leg it out against his teammate and competitor Tesame Mugase in the exciting final two laps of the 18th Maccabiah men's 10,000 meter final. A sub-30 10k is always a good time, but especially impressive on a night with only two elite runners and humid, breezy Tel Aviv conditions. Congratulations to Maccabiah USA's Jeff Weinstein, who earned bronze.

1. Berihun Webee (Israel) 29:56
2. Tesame Mugase (Israel) (30:0?)
3. Jeff Weinstein (USA) 33:18

The finish and post-medal ceremony reactions (Berihun: "I'm tired!").





Berihun is saying, "I am SO tired. Thank goodness it's over." To explain: in addition to running a sub-30 10k race, Berihun might be exhausted because he left his house the the day of the race -- like the day after and most days -- at 6 am for work. Another reason why helping him is crucial.

Israel and America's Fastest

The Maccabiah is a unique event that brings together Jewish athletes from all over the world. At last night's Maccabiah track meet in Tel Aviv, the fastest young runners of American Jewry took a moment to meet the fastest young long-distance runners (video) in Israel, Berihun Webee and Tesame Mugase (photo) . Go Ethio-America, only in Israel!

From Team Berihun

From Team Berihun

Berihun is Maccabiah 10K champ!

Berihun won the 18th Maccabiah 10,000 meters event last night in an exciting race against his friend and competitor Tesame Mugase, another talented Israeli runner. The American Maccabiah track team was at the meet in Tel Aviv to support the Americans competing in all the events and to watch the top long-distance runners in Israel: Berihun and Tesame.

Berihun finished with an outstanding 29:56. Although the event was on a muggy July evening in Tel Aviv , Berihun was satisfied with his impressive sub-30 time. Not bad for a 10K with only two elite runners.

Check out the pics and video of the event.

More details coming up.

Donate to help Berihun!

Please send checks made out to the Keter Torah Charity Fund (for tax-exemption purposes; every cent is disbursed to this cause) and earmarked Team Berihun. Mail to:

Rafi Rosenbaum
399 Churchill Road
Teaneck, NJ 07666

Alternatively, write "Team Berihun" in the purpose box and all funds will be processed through tax-exempt bodies in the U.S. and Israel and disbursed directly to Berihun and his family.

Thank you!

Why we've decided to help

This story begins six months back, here, at the Bet Shean Half Marathon, which was also the Israeli national championships in that event. Three of us, Steven (Rafi) Rosenbaum, Judith Sambol, and Daniel Feldman competed in the event, as did an extremely fast new Israeli pro runner, Berihun Webee. Berihun won the race in a blistering 1:05:55.

Not bad, but nothing compared to what we subsequently learned. Rafi, one of the early finishers, too (only fifteen minutes after the winner), did a cool down with Berihun and started chatting with him. After the awards ceremony the three of us joined the winner in the deliciously cool pools at Sakhne, where we got to meet Berihun more personally. We were all struck by how gracious he was, taking time to ask each of us with absolutely no pretension about our results and experience when he had just won the race! Even more amazingly, no one was there to meet Berihun and he had no one to drive him home or serve as his entourage. He didn't mention it, but he had also just won the national 10K championships the same month. We later learned, by contacting his coach, that Berihun's family is extremely poor and he supports almost his entire family, two underemployed parents and six of his younger siblings, with his running and coaching work.

Berihun was working three jobs to put food on the table for his family, and his impressive commitment to family and enormous obligations to them were holding him back from developing his full potential, even as he just started running professionally only last year.

After getting to know Berihun a bit better and learning more about his exemplary personality and prodigious talent, we decided to do everything we could to help this true Jewish, Israeli champion realize his goal: running for Israel as a marathoner at the 2012 London Olympics. The help to a deserving and appreciative, religious Ethiopian Jewish family warrants the cause in its own right, but by working together, we can achieve something remarkable: Berihun is the best face of Israel and we hope to help him run as far he can. All he needs is our help.

Keep up with Berihun Webee

If you can -- he's fast!

Berihun Webee is Israel's reigning half marathon champion, the Aluf Yisrael for 2008, and currently the fastest half-marathoner in Israel. He's training to achieve the Olympic-qualifying standard for the marathon and represent Israel in the London Olympics in 2012. His results speak for themselves, and a look at the all-time Israeli record books reveals the following:

In the half marathon Berihun is the fastest half marathoner in the country right now. While there are three active runners, Haile Setayin, Vodage Zvadya, and Asaf Bimro who have run faster times in their careers, none of them have set personal records in the past eight years, indicating that they are currently on the downside of their careers and Berihun is the future in Israeli distance running.

http://www.iaa.co.il/index.php?uri=/top_50_all_times/display/69

In the 5000m, the all-time Israeli performance list again has Berihun trailing only Olympians Setayin and Itai Meggidi, former All-American at Texas Tech University Gezachw Yossef, Zvadya, and Mukat Derebe.

http://www.iaa.co.il/index.php?uri=/top_50_all_times/display/67

In the 10000m, the current runners with personal records faster than Berihun are Setayin and Zvadya from races in the mid-1990's, Meggidi, Yossef, and Tesma Mugesse.

http://www.iaa.co.il/index.php?uri=/top_50_all_times/display/68

Donate to help Berihun!

Please write "Team Berihun" in the purpose box and all funds will be processed through tax-exempt bodies in the U.S. and Israel and disbursed directly to Berihun and his family:

Welcome to Team Berihun

ברוכים הבאים!! אנו שמחים שהצטרפתם

Thank you for joining the effort to help Berihun realize his goal of representing Israel on the international stage as a world-class marathoner. Please use this site to learn about this remarkable Israeli champion, his enormous talent and personality, and his aspiration to run for Israel in the 2012 London Olympics.