More than 8,000 female runners took part in the 2006 Confidence Women First 5km Run on Sunday. The event, which is organised by the team behind the Great Ethiopian Run, has now become the country’s largest mass participation race for women, surpassing the 7000 competitors in last year’s race and the 5000 who took part in 2004.

The race was won by Rehima Kedir, who crossed the finish line in 15 minutes 42.77 seconds.

Four thousand places were taken by various organisations active in Ethiopia, such as Ethiopian Airlines and Save the Children, with more than two thousand places going to sub-city and kebele local groups throughout Addis Ababa. A number of Ethiopia’s top female club runners took part, as did the Ambassadors from the USA, Spain, Norway and Denmark, while British international athletes Julia Bleasdale and Mary Wilkinson also competed, following an invitation to the UK Athletics governing body to nominate two women to take part in the event.

Olympic Champions Meseret Defar and Haile Gebrselassie were on hand to cheer on the participants.

The race, which is staged to coincide with the commemoration of International Women’s Day on 8^th March, started at the Atlas Hotel in Bole, before passing the Bole Medhanealem Church and heading onto the home straight past Desalegn Hotel and the EU headquarters.

ENDS