The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon has announced that the Kuma siblings of Ethiopia, Abera Kuma and his sister Dibabe Kuma, will toe the line this year on October 20. With personal bests of 2:05:50 and 2:23:34, both are in a position to contest not just the titles but the course records–and it would be a notable first for this event if a pair of siblings were to win at STWM. This will not be the first Canadian marathon for Abera, 28, a former track runner who represented Ethiopia at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships: he finished second on a very humid day at this years Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, in 2:08:14. His PB of 2:05:50 is from the 2018 Rotterdam Marathon, where he finished second. Dibabe, 22, has always focused on the road since fairly early in her career, setting her marathon PB of 2:23:34 with her third-place finish at the Ljubljana (Slovakia) Marathon last October, and winning this years Hamburg Marathon in 2:24:42 (where Magdalyne Masai, who will also line up against Kuma at STWM this year, finished second). Both siblings are considered to have potential to break the course records, depending of course on the weather. The womens record of 2:22:29 was set last year by Mimi Belete, while Philemon Ronoholds the mens course record of 2:06:52 (from 2017). Kuma says she is not daunted by the prospect of cold weather, having triumphed in cold and wet conditions in Hamburg. It will be the siblings first time traveling together to race.
In contrast to the men, Dibabe Kuma ran away from her rivals soon after halfway. Although slowing in the second half the Ethiopian clocked the sixth fastest time ever run in Hamburg of 2:24:41 despite wet and cold weather. Kenya’s Magdalyne Masai was second with 2:26:02 while Failuna Matanga of Tanzania finished third in 2:27:55.
A cewar Sarkin, “Ni da iyalaina idan muna jin bayan gida, muna shiga cikin daji ne mu yi; kuma kusan dukan gidajen da suke kauyen nan haka muke yi. Gidajen da suke da masai a cikinsu ba su wuce goma ba, mafi yawa daga cikinsu ma sun lalace.”
Wani magidanci da ke zaune a kauyen na Kutaru mai suna Birsu Mato, ya bayyana yadda suke cikin ukuba kan sha’anin ruwa da tsabtar muhalli, “Ba za mu iya sanin adadin yaran da suke rayuwa a wannan kauyen ba; amma mu manya mun haura 1,500, gidaje kuma za su doshi 150. Muna rayuwa ne a cikin wahalar ruwa sosai, domin a ce mana wannan adadin amma muna amfani ne da rijiya daya da rijiyar tuka-tuka daya tak; masai kuwa babu a gidaje da dama; kai kanka ka san akwai matsala,” inji shi.
An kama wata dalibar jami’ar Maiduguri (UNIMAID) tana kokarin danna wani sabon jariri da ta haifa cikin masai. Bayan ta kashe jaririn nata da kanta, sai kuma tai yunkurin ta batar da jaririn ta hanyar kokarin danna shi cikin masai. Allah cikin ikonsa sai kuma asirinta ya tonu kafin ta kammala mummunan aikin.
Dajin da ya ratsa shahararrun yankunan Ngorongoro, Amboseli, Serengeti, Masai Mara da Tsabo dukkan su nan ne wuraren kiwon alummar Maasai. Kabilar Maasai na amfani da yaren Maa ne, kuma ana samun su a yankunan kasashen Kenya da Tanzania.
Dibabe, 22, has always focused on the road since fairly early in her career, setting her marathon PB of 2:23:34 with her third-place finish at the Ljubljana (Slovakia) Marathon last October, and winning this year’s Hamburg Marathon in 2:24:42 (where Magdalyne Masai, who will also line up against Kuma at STWM this year, finished second).
