By Rich Sands, @thatrichsands.bsky.social
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved.
HONOLULU (11-Dec) — Just six weeks after a solid showing in the TCS New York City Marathon, Tsegay Weldlibanos is looking to pull off an ambitious double at the JAL Honolulu Marathon here on Sunday. The Eritrean-born athlete, who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona, leads the race’s deepest field in recent years. He’ll face off against the defending champion –and his training partner– Yemane Haileselassie as they pursue a $25,000 first-place prize (not to mention an exclusive solid gold winner’s medal crafted by race partner SCG, a Japanese goldsmith, which is worth $27,000 at current gold prices.
In New York on November 2, Weldlibanos was running with the front pack through about 33 kilometers (21 miles), but couldn’t match the leaders’ breakaway. He rallied to finish ninth in 2:10:36, a credible performance on a demanding course.
“In general, I’m happy because I had very good preparation and I was ready for that race,” he said in an interview here yesterday, with translation help from training partner Amanuel Mesel, who is also running on Sunday (after finishing fifth last year). “But unfortunately, in the last stages of the race I had to throw up and had to lag behind because of that.”
But the decision to run in Honolulu was not part of a hastily arranged redemption mission. It was always the plan for the 29-year-old Weldlibanos to do this double. He is hoping to capitalize on the fitness he built this fall, and he hasn’t missed a beat since crossing the finish line in Central Park. “He came off New York really strong and has managed himself well,” said James McKirdy, who coaches Weldlibanos. “I actually think he’s more fit now than he was for New York.”
This will actually be Weldlibanos’s second attempt at the Honolulu Marathon. He lined up in 2023, but after getting sick with COVID a week before the race he was unable to finish, dropping out at about 15-K. He finally had a chance to show his true potential over 26.2 miles at the 2024 California International Marathon, which he won in 2:07:35, setting a course record and breaking his previous personal best of 2:09:07 from 2019. That makes him the fastest entrant in this year’s field. He also won the Hapalua Half Marathon in Honolulu this past April, so he’s familiar with the humid conditions that come with racing in Hawaii. “The weather is going to be warm, but I’m really ready mentally for that,” he said. “And it’s going to be that way for everybody.”
January will mark six years that Weldlibanos has lived in the United States. He sought asylum to escape the oppressive conditions in Eritrea, but it came with a steep price: He has been separated from his wife and daughter during that entire time. They are currently safe in Eritrea, and weekly phone calls help him stay in touch, but Weldlibanos admits it has been difficult. His path to U.S. citizenship has been slow, but he finally had a meeting with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in June. The timetable going forward is ambiguous, so he’s unsure when his case might advance.
While his life is filled with uncertainty, running has helped give him structure and a sense of purpose. “It’s very hard to focus on training while I have all these things, but that’s what I have to do,” said Weldlibanos, who competes frequently in U.S. races. “First and foremost, as a professional it’s in my blood, I love my career, so that motivates me to focus on the running. I have an opportunity to grow.”
Over the past 15 years Weldlibanos has raced all over the world, and his resume includes championship experience. He finished 38th at the 2015 World Athletics Cross Country Championships, helping Eritrea to a fourth-place finish. He also took seventh in the 5000 meters at the 2014 World U20 Championships.
But unfortunately, without a national team affiliation right now he has been unable to attract sponsorship from shoe companies, which prioritize athletes who can compete at the Olympics and world championships. He supplements his racing prize money income with a job as a ride-share driver in Flagstaff. He works about 25-30 hours a week, on top of putting in about 110 miles or running.
It helps that he has the camaraderie of the McKirdy Training group, a diverse mix of international athletes (some of whom are also in the U.S. under asylum). “It’s a blessing to be with such a group. We have known each other for a long time, some of us from back home, and we have a very strong team,” Weldlibanos said. “James is always with us, giving us everything we need. Having these teammates to work with is very special.”
With several of his teammates joining him in Honolulu, “it’s going to feel like a training session,” he said. Not that it won’t be competitive. “For our team, we didn’t come here to jog, we came here to destroy the competition and honor the race with our efforts,” said McKirdy, who believes that Weldlibanos is in shape to break 2:10 on Sunday. That would be an exceptional time for a race known for its hilly terrain and warm and humid conditions. The course record is 2:08:00 (2:07:59.02) by Kenyan Titus Ekiru in 2019.
Weldlibanos knows that it will be a challenge, but his confidence is high. “I’m ready. I’ve done the work,” he said. “I am not going to assume that I will win the race, but I assure you that I going to do my best in the race.”
PHOTO: Tsegay Weldlibanos at a Waikiki hotel in advance of the 2025 JAL Honolulu Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
– – – – – – – –
RACE RESULTS WEEKLY is sponsored by RunCzech, organizers of the Prague Marathon and a series of iconic running events, including the Prague Half Marathon, part of the SuperHalfs, and Italy’s fastest half marathon, the Napoli City Half Marathon. Learn more at runczech.com.
ENDS
Weldiblanos_Tsegay_HNL_Porttrait_#2_2025_Jane_Monti_With_Credit.jpg
