Zevenheuvelenloop

Zevenheuvelenloop (Seven Hills Run in English) is an annual 15 kilometres road running race held in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It was first organised in 1984 and has grown to be one of the largest road races in the Netherlands;[1] it attracted over 30,000 runners in 2008.[2] The race has attained IAAF Label Road Race status.[3]

The inaugural edition of the race in 1984 featured only a 11.9 kilometre course as the Dutch athletics federation (Koninklijke Nederlandse Atletiek Unie) would not allow new races to be longer than 12 km.[4] The current undulating, hilly course begins in Nijmegen, follows a path to Groesbeek and then loops back towards Nijmegen to the finish line.[1] Zevenheuvelenloop lends itself to fast times: Felix Limo broke the men's world record in 2001 and, at the 2009 edition, Tirunesh Dibaba broke the women's world record over 15 km.[5][6]. In 2010 Leonard Komon improved Limo's still standing World Record[7].

A number of athletes have achieved victory at the Zevenheuvelenloop on multiple occasions; Tonnie Dirks, Tegla Loroupe, Mestawet Tufa, Sileshi Sihine and Haile Gebrselassie have each won the race three times. The 2002 winner, South African Irvette Van Blerk, won the race at the age of fifteen, having entered the race while holidaying in the Netherlands. The race was used as the test event for the development of the ChampionChip personal RFID timing system.[8]

Winners

Key:       Course record

Edition Year Men's winner Time
(m:s)		 Women's winner Time
(m:s)
28th 2011[9]  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 42:44  Waganesh Mekasha (ETH) 48:33
27th 2010  Leonard Patrick Komon (KEN) 41:13  Genet Getaneh (ETH) 47:53
26th 2009  Sileshi Sihine (ETH) 42:14  Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) 46:29
25th 2008  Ayele Abshiro (ETH) 42:17  Mestawet Tufa (ETH) 46:57
24th 2007  Sileshi Sihine (ETH) 42:24  Bezunesh Bekele (ETH) 47:36
23rd 2006  Micah Kogo (KEN) 42:42  Mestawet Tufa (ETH) 47:22
22nd 2005  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 41:56  Berhane Adere (ETH) 47:46
21st 2004  Sileshi Sihine (ETH) 41:38  Lydia Cheromei (KEN) 47:02
20th 2003  Richard Yatich (KEN) 42:43  Mestawet Tufa (ETH) 49:06
19th 2002  Kamiel Maase (NED) 43:41  Irvette van Blerk (RSA) 51:06
18th 2001  Felix Limo (KEN) 41:29  Rose Cheruiyot (KEN) 48:40
17th 2000  Felix Limo (KEN) 42:53  Berhane Adere (ETH) 48:06
16th 1999  Mohammed Mourhit (BEL) 43:30  Lyubov Morgunova (RUS) 49:45
15th 1998  Worku Bikila (ETH) 42:24  Tegla Loroupe (KEN) 50:06
14th 1997  Worku Bikila (ETH) 42:20  Catherina McKiernan (IRL) 48:30
13th 1996  Josphat Machuka (KEN) 43:06  Marleen Renders (BEL) 50:09
12th 1995  Josphat Machuka (KEN) 42:23  Helen Kimaiyo (KEN) 49:44
11th 1994  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 43:00  Liz McColgan (GBR) 49:56
10th 1993  Khalid Skah (MAR) 43:35  Tegla Loroupe (KEN) 50:06
9th 1992  Carl Thackery (GBR) 43:54  Tegla Loroupe (KEN) 50:53
8th 1991  Tonnie Dirks (NED) 44:09  Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) 48:46
7th 1990  Tonnie Dirks (NED) 44:53  Carla Beurskens (NED) 52:06
6th 1989  Tonnie Dirks (NED) 43:31  Carla Beurskens (NED) 50:36
5th 1988  Robin Bergstrand (GBR) 46:20  Marianne van de Linde (NED) 52:53
4th 1987  Marti ten Kate (NED) 45:11  Gerrie Timmermans (NED) 57:16
3rd 1986  Sam Carey (GBR) 46:2  Denise Verhaert (BEL) 53:33
2nd 1985  Klaas Lok (NED) 45:28  Joke Menkveld (NED) 57:28
1st 1984  Leon Wijers (NED) 36:55  Anne Rindt (NED) 45:48

Statistics

Winners by country

Country Men's race Women's race Total
 Ethiopia 9 9 18
 Netherlands 7 6 13
 Kenya 7 6 13
 United Kingdom 3 1 4
 Belgium 1 2 3
 Ireland 0 1 1
 Morocco 1 0 1
 Norway 0 1 1
 Russia 0 1 1
 South Africa 0 1 1

Multiple winners

Athlete Country Wins Years
Tonnie Dirks  Netherlands 3 1989, 1990, 1991
Tegla Loroupe  Kenya 3 1992, 1993, 1998
Mestawet Tufa  Ethiopia 3 2003, 2006, 2008
Sileshi Sihine  Ethiopia 3 2004, 2007, 2009
Haile Gebrselassie  Ethiopia 3 1994, 2005, 2011
Carla Beurskens  Netherlands 2 1989, 1990
Josphat Machuka  Kenya 2 1995, 1996
Worku Bikila  Ethiopia 2 1997, 1998
Felix Limo  Kenya 2 2000, 2001
Berhane Adere  Ethiopia 2 2000, 2005

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ a b van Hemert, Wim & Turner, Chris (2008-11-03). Bekele lines-up for 'first serious' road race at 25th anniversary edition of the Seven Hills. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-15.
  2. ^ van Hemert, Wim (2008-11-16). Tufa just shy of 15Km World record in Nijmegen - UPDATED. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-15.
  3. ^ IAAF Label Road Race Events. IAAF (2009). Retrieved on 2009-11-15.
  4. ^ Krol, Maarten & van Hemert, Wim (2008-11-17). Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2009-11-15.
  5. ^ Dibaba shatters 15Km World record in Nijmegen. IAAF (2009-11-15). Retrieved on 2009-11-15.
  6. ^ van Hemert, Wim (2009-11-13). Dibaba and Sihine lead the fields in Nijmegen. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-15.
  7. ^ "Komon breaks World 15Km record in Nijmegen". www.iaaf.org (IAAF). 2010-11-21. http://www.iaaf.org/LRR10/news/newsid=58776.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  8. ^ Hetger, Colin (2002-11-17). South African wins Netherlands Race. ChampionChip. Retrieved on 2010-11-27.
  9. ^ van Hemert, Wim (2011-11-20). Gebrselassie heads Ethiopian double in Nijmegen. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-21.

External links