The last thing the rest of the field for the Bupa Great 
Edinburgh International Cross Country Race need to hear is that Kenenisa Bekele, the 11-time IAAF world cross country champion, is going through a period of rejuvenation after being reunited with his sole and trusted training partner.

For much of the past year, the 
Ethiopian’s younger brother Tariku, the 2008 IAAF world indoor 3000 metres champion, was injured, leaving him to train alone. Even so, Bekele added to his medal collection at the world 
championships in Berlin, where he successfully completed the 5000m and 10,000m double.

Now the younger Bekele, 22, is fully fit again and keeping his big brother on his toes. “I don’t have a coach, I am coaching myself,” said the 27-year-old elder Bekele. “Tariku follows me and what I am doing.

“I am happy when I am training with him because I don’t want to train alone. I am not comfortable when I am 
training alone. I train on the hills outside Addis Ababa and it’s sometimes boring. I need somebody to help me and to train with me. Yes, he pushes me; he helps me.”