December's Singapore Marathon was even slower, as he came tenth in 2:19:20 hours. While training in Addis Ababa in 2009 he was hit by a car and the resulting injuries left him unable to compete for nine months. His sole marathon of 2009, the Los Angeles Marathon, saw him return to form and he completed the distance in 2:09:32 hours (his second sub-2:10 hour run) to take the runner-up spot behind Wesley Korir. Tariku had mixed results in the 2010 season: he returned to Los Angeles and came seventh in a time of 2:11:49 hours, but was some six minutes slower at the Florence Marathon, where he came fifth. The 2011 Mumbai Marathon was tightly contested and although Tariku was fourteen seconds behind the winner Girma Assefa, this left him in fourth place. His second run of the year came in Istanbul and a late-stage duel against Vincent Kiplagat resulted in a runner-up finish for the Ethiopian. Just over a month later, he took to the course at the Beirut Marathon and he ran a course record time of 2:11:14 hours, seeing off a challenge from Sammy Malakwen. The 2012 Houston Marathon saw Tariku reach a new career high: he won the race in a personal best time of 2:06:51, which was a state record for Texas. He managed only tenth at the Paris Marathon but returned to the top of the podium at the Beijing Marathon which he won in 2:09:39 hours. He was a close second to Vincent Kipruto at the Lake Biwa Marathon in February 2013. In May he became the first Ethiopian winner at the Ottawa Marathon in a course record time of 2:08:05 hours. He won the Tiberias Marathon in January 2014 then had his second fastest ever outing at the Seoul International Marathon, running 2:07:02 for fourth place. References External links Living people 1984 births Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian male marathon runners Sportspeople from Oromia Region 20th-century Ethiopian people 21st-century Ethiopian people