A Quarter Mile With West Side Runners

With the 2019 NYRR Ted Corbitt 15K in the books, another successful year concludes for West Side Runners (WSX), one of the top competitive running teams in the northeast region and the NYRR men’s open division club points champions once again this year. For this edition of A Quarter-Mile With, we spoke to one of WSX’s top runners, Diriba Degefa Yigezu, who wrapped up a spectacularly successful 2019 by placing second at the Ted Corbitt race in 47:38, less than two weeks after winning the Philadelphia Marathon in 2:16:31. He also won the 2019 Run As One Presented by JPMorgan Chase last April.

Name: Diriba Degefa Yegezu

Club: West Side Runners

Fartlek or tempo? Fartlek.

Favorite NYRR race? The TCS New York City Marathon.

Favorite race distance? Half marathon and full marathon.

Toughest NYRR race? The Ted Corbitt 15K, as it is usually very cold.

Favorite distance to run? 10 miles

Running hero? Abebe Bikila, the first Ethiopian Olympic marathon champion, who won in 1960 running barefoot.

Post-race meal? Tips (meat with injera bread).

Cold-weather or warm-weather running? Definitely warm.

Treadmills: Yay or nay? Yes, I sometimes train on treadmills.

Inspirational quote? “The value of achievement lies in the achieving.” – Albert Einstein

Song that makes you want to go faster? Michael Jackson songs.

Best non-running account you follow on Twitter? @FCBarcelona, especially the players Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembélé.

Your club, in five words? “I like West Side Runners.”