Khairi Bejiga became the first runner, male or female, to win back-to-back titles at the tRUNsylvania 10km, while Asefu Abreha claimed a surprise win in the women's race, as Ethiopian runners swept both podiums in Brasov on Sunday, October 4.

Ethiopian runners dominated the 2026 tRUNsylvania 10km, with Khairi Bejiga and Asefu Abreha both coming home victorious in Brasov, Romania, on Sunday.

Bejiga, still just 20, became the first runner – man or woman – to win back-to-back titles in the six editions of the race, with a dominant performance almost from gun to tape. He led the 12-strong leading group through the first half in 13:32, then kept the tempo high with successive sixth and seventh kilometres of 2:42 and 2:40, which saw several runners drift off the back of the pack.

Five men were still together just after 8km – Bejiga, his compatriot and training partner Nibret Kinde, fellow Ethiopian Ayele Tadesse, Kenya's Amos Bett and Uganda's Kenneth Kiprop – passing in 21:44. A couple of hundred metres down the road there was drama as Kiprop, one of the race favourites, tripped and fell before stumbling home 11th.

Despite the distraction, Bejiga kept up his remorseless pace at the front, and a ninth kilometre of 2:41 saw Bett and then Tadesse slip back out of contention for the win. Reigning Ethiopian 10,000m champion Kinde, though, refused to throw in the towel in the battle for the $5,000 first prize, and it took until the final 200m before Bejiga, arms pumping like an 800m runner, finally put daylight between himself and his rival. The pair crossed the line in 27:01 and a big personal best of 27:02 respectively.

"I was hoping the first half of the race was going to be quicker but nobody wanted to go faster," said Bejiga through an interpreter, who repeatedly indicated that others should help with the pace. "I was looking for a course record and personal best." His course record and personal best happen to be the same time, 26:51.

Having finished full of running, Bejiga is now targeting a quick time at the Valencia Half Marathon on October 25, having had only one previous outing over the distance, a modest 1:02:04.

Tadesse took 30 seconds off his best for third place in 27:10, while Bett was just two seconds shy of his own best with 27:13. Further back, Hani Idriss Hersi set a Djibouti national record of 27:13 in fifth, while France's Meziane Benhammou set a European under-18 best of 28:39 – 14 seconds inside the previous mark – in 18th place.

Another Ethiopian clean sweep of the podium had come a little earlier in the morning in the women's race, but instead of one of the favourites taking the honours, there was an upset win for another 20-year-old, Asefu Abreha.

Abreha came to Brasov with little international experience, although she had taken bronze in the 10,000m at the African Championships earlier in the year. Her only previous 10km on the roads was a modest 31:32 in challenging conditions in Bengaluru, India, in April. She looked every inch the seasoned veteran here, though, coming home ahead of many more experienced runners to cross the line in a big personal best of 30:16.

A relatively slow first half, partly down to cool conditions with the temperature just 8°C at the start – 3km passed in 9:06 and 5km in 15:11 – meant the course record of 30:07 looked unlikely to fall from early in the race. Seven women went through 5km together, but over the next kilometre Abreha and fellow Ethiopians Aynadis Mebratu and 19-year-old Yenenesh Shimket began to edge away from their rivals.

Mebratu pushed the pace from 7km onwards in a bid to shake off her compatriots, but it took until the trio entered the final kilometre before Shimket began to struggle. As Shimket got detached, Abreha threw down the gauntlet to Mebratu before producing a decisive second surge with around 200m to go to clinch victory. Mebratu came home second in 30:19, while Shimket took third in a world under-20 10km best of 30:21.

Behind the leading trio, there were national records for Djibouti's Samia Hassan Nour and South Africa's Tayla Kavanagh in fourth and fifth, the latter running her own race having been 18 seconds down on the leaders at halfway, with the pair clocking 30:37 and 30:50 respectively.

Results

Men
1 Khairi Bejiga (ETH) 27:01
2 Nibret Kinde (ETH) 27:02
3 Ayele Tadesse (ETH) 27:10
4 Amos Bett (KEN) 27:13
5 Hani Idriss Hersi (DJI) 27:16 (NR)
6 Laban Kosgei (KEN) 27:21
7 Victor Okoth (KEN) 27:22
8 Samuel Simba Cherop (UGA) 27:26
9 Kevin Chesang (KEN) 27:29
10 Silas Senchura (KEN) 27:32

Women
1 Asefu Abreha (ETH) 30:16
2 Aynadis Mebratu (ETH) 30:19
3 Yenenesh Shimket (ETH) 30:21 (world U20 best)
4 Samia Hassan Nour (DJI) 30:37 (NR)
5 Tayla Kavanagh (RSA) 30:50 (NR)
6 Nelvin Jepkemboi (KEN) 30:57
7 Mastewal Muhabaw (ETH) 30:59
8 Axumawit Embaye (ETH) 31:05
9 Joan Chelimo Melly (ROU) 31:46
10 Dorine Jepchirchir (KEN) 31:49