The Abebe Bikila Award is an annual prize given by the New York Road Runners

New York Road Runners

New York Road Runners , founded in 1958 with 47 members, has grown into the foremost running organization, with a membership of 40,000. NYRR conducts more than 100 events each year, including races, classes, clinics, and lectures...

 club (NYRR) to honour individuals who have made a significant contribution to the sport of long-distance running. The first recipient of the award was Ted Corbitt

Ted Corbitt

Ted Corbitt was an American long-distance runner and an official of running organizations. Corbitt is often called "the father of long distance running." He was an ultramarathon pioneer, helping to revive interest in the sport in the United States in the 1960s and 70s...

, a founder of both NYRR and the Road Runners Club of America

Road Runners Club of America

Founded in 1958, the Road Runners Club of America is the oldest and largest distance running organization in the United States with over 1500 running club and event members representing 200,000 individual runners active in their running communities...

, who received the honour on October 27, 1978. The award is named in honour of the two-time Olympic marathon winner Abebe Bikila

Abebe Bikila

Abebe Bikila was a two-time Olympic marathon champion from Ethiopia. A stadium in Addis Ababa is named in his honor.-1932–1959:...

 of Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

.

Past winners of the award include: Olympic gold medallists Frank Shorter

Frank Shorter

Frank Charles Shorter is a former American long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. His victory is credited with igniting the running boom in the United States of the 1970s....

, Rosa Mota

Rosa Mota

Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes. She is also considered to have been one of the best marathon runners of the 20th century....

 and Lasse Virén

Lasse Virén

Lasse Artturi Virén is a former Finnish long-distance runner, winner of four gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics...

; world record breakers Paula Radcliffe

Paula Radcliffe

Paula Jane Radcliffe, MBE is an English long-distance runner. She is the current women's world record holder in the marathon with her time of 2:15:25 hours...

, Khalid Khannouchi

Khalid Khannouchi

Khalid Khannouchi is a Moroccan American marathoner. He was born in Meknes, Morocco. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km distance. He is one of only five men to break the marathon world record more than once, and one of only four...

 and Paul Tergat

Paul Tergat

Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan professional long distance runner. He held the world record in the marathon from 2003 to 2007, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time.Now concentrating exclusively on the marathon, Tergat won many...

; and multiple major marathon winners Grete Waitz

Grete Waitz

Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history...

, Alberto Salazar

Alberto Salazar

Alberto Salazar is an American marathon runner of the 1980s. Born in Cuba, Salazar emigrated to the United States with his family. They ultimately moved to Wayland, Massachusetts, where Salazar competed in track and field in high school...

 and Joan Samuelson. Radcliffe named as Abebe Bikila Award Winner. IAAF/NYRR (2006-10-28). Retrieved on 2010-10-31.Tergat to receive the Abebe Bikila Award . IAAF/NYRR (2010-10-28). Retrieved on 2010-10-31.

While the award has typically been associated with elite level runners

Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...

, particularly marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 runners, it has also been given to non-athletes. Fred Lebow

Fred Lebow

Fred Lebow , who was born Fischel Lebowitz, was an avid runner and founder of the New York City Marathon. Born in Arad, Romania, he presided over the transformation of the race from one with 55 finishers in 1970 to one of the largest marathons in the world with over 43,660 finishers in 2009...

 – creator of the New York Marathon – became the first person to win the award who was not a professional athlete in 1995. The 2001 award was given to Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani

Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....

 on the basis of his dedication to the city in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The 2009 winner, long-time road running

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

 organiser and event director Allan Steinfeld, was the third non-professional athlete to receive the award.

The award is closely linked with NYRR's annual International Friendship Run, a four mile fun run

Fun run

A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors providing the revenue to cover organisational costs...

 from United Nations Plaza to Central Park

Central Park

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

, which is held immediately following the official award presentation event.

Recipients

Year	Recipient	Country
1978	Ted Corbitt Ted Corbitt Ted Corbitt was an American long-distance runner and an official of running organizations. Corbitt is often called "the father of long distance running." He was an ultramarathon pioneer, helping to revive interest in the sport in the United States in the 1960s and 70s...
1979	Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life...
1980	Lasse Virén Lasse Virén Lasse Artturi Virén is a former Finnish long-distance runner, winner of four gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics...
1981	Frank Shorter Frank Shorter Frank Charles Shorter is a former American long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. His victory is credited with igniting the running boom in the United States of the 1970s....
1982	Mamo Wolde Mamo Wolde Degaga Wolde was an Ethiopian long distance track and road running athlete and was winner of the marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics....
1983	Grete Waitz Grete Waitz Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history...
1984	Derek Clayton Derek Clayton Derek Clayton is a former Australian long-distance runner, born in Cumbria, England and raised in Northern Ireland. He set a marathon world best in the Fukuoka Marathon, Japan on 3 December 1967 in 2:09:36.4, in what is considered a classic race, the first marathon race ever run in less than two...
1985	John Adelbert Kelley
1986	Joan Samuelson
1987	Sohn Kee-chung Sohn Kee-chung Sohn Kee-Chung became the first medal-winning Korean Olympian, when he won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a member of the Japanese delegation....
1988	Alberto Salazar Alberto Salazar Alberto Salazar is an American marathon runner of the 1980s. Born in Cuba, Salazar emigrated to the United States with his family. They ultimately moved to Wayland, Massachusetts, where Salazar competed in track and field in high school...
1989	Bill Rodgers Bill Rodgers (athlete) William "Bill" Henry Rodgers is an American runner and former American record holder in the marathon who is best known for his victories in the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon in the late 1970s...
1990	Waldemar Cierpinski Waldemar Cierpinski Waldemar Cierpinski is a former East German athlete and two time Olympic Champion in the marathon. He is living in Halle an der Saale.-Career:...
1991	Alain Mimoun Alain Mimoun Alain Mimoun is a retired French runner and Olympic marathon champion.-Early life:Born in El Telagh, then in French Algeria, Mimoun lost several years of competition to World War II...
1992	Ingrid Kristiansen Ingrid Kristiansen Ingrid Kristiansen née Christensen , was one of the best female long distance runners in the second half of the 1980s. She finished in fourth place in the first women's Olympic marathon race, at the 1984 Summer Olympics.-Career:Kristiansen started her career quite unremarkably, running 2:30 - 2:40...
1993	Rod Dixon Rod Dixon Rodney Phillip "Rod" Dixon is a former New Zealand middle distance runner. He won the bronze medal over 1500 metres at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and in 1983 won the prestigious New York City Marathon.-Biography:...
1994	Juma Ikangaa Juma Ikangaa Juma Ikangaa marathon runner from Tanzania, a sentimental favorite in Boston after finishing second three years in a row atthe Boston Marathon from 1988-1990...
1995	Fred Lebow Fred Lebow Fred Lebow , who was born Fischel Lebowitz, was an avid runner and founder of the New York City Marathon. Born in Arad, Romania, he presided over the transformation of the race from one with 55 finishers in 1970 to one of the largest marathons in the world with over 43,660 finishers in 2009...
1996	Orlando Pizzolato Orlando Pizzolato Orlando Pizzolato is a retired long-distance runner from Italy, who represented his native country in the men's marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics, finishing in 16th place...
1997	Lisa Ondieki
1998	Rosa Mota Rosa Mota Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes. She is also considered to have been one of the best marathon runners of the 20th century....
1999	Tegla Loroupe Tegla Loroupe Tegla Chepkite Loroupe is a long-distance track and road runner, and a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights, and education....
2000	Khalid Khannouchi Khalid Khannouchi Khalid Khannouchi is a Moroccan American marathoner. He was born in Meknes, Morocco. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km distance. He is one of only five men to break the marathon world record more than once, and one of only four...
2001	Rudolph Giuliani
2002	Allison Roe Allison Roe Allison Pamela Roe, MBE is a former long-distance athlete from New Zealand. In 1981 she won both the Boston and New York Marathons in course record times...
2003	Kathrine Switzer Kathrine Switzer Kathrine Switzer is the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as a numbered entry. She entered and completed the race in 1967, five years before women were officially allowed to compete in it. Her finishing time of approximately 4 hours and 20 minutes was nearly an hour behind the first female...
2004	Stefano Baldini Stefano Baldini Stefano Baldini is a retired Italian athlete and the 2004 Olympic and former European champion in the marathon....
2005	Mizuki Noguchi Mizuki Noguchi is a Japanese professional long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon event. She is an Olympic champion over the distance and set two world records in 2005....
2006	Paula Radcliffe Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe, MBE is an English long-distance runner. She is the current women's world record holder in the marathon with her time of 2:15:25 hours...
2007	Not awarded
2008	Lornah Kiplagat Lornah Kiplagat Lornah Kiplagat is a Dutch long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and came to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has competed for the Netherlands since...
2009	Allan Steinfeld
2010	Paul Tergat Paul Tergat Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan professional long distance runner. He held the world record in the marathon from 2003 to 2007, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time.Now concentrating exclusively on the marathon, Tergat won many...
2011	Germán Silva Germán Silva Germán Silva Martínez is a retired Mexican long-distance runner who specialized in the marathon. His foremost achievements were back-to-back victories at the New York City Marathon in 1994 and 1995. He represented Mexico twice at the Summer Olympics, competing in 1992 and 1996...