My father didn't think running was sensible. He told me running is just wasting time.

I have seen things few of my countrymen have. The first time I went on an aeroplane I couldn't work out how the lavatories worked up in the sky.

I feel a social responsibility. We need to open people's eyes. There is a lack of education in Ethiopia.

Like some high official, you have to tell your brain: 'Do it. Come on. I have to do it.'

You know for me when I promise something I want to deliver. If you don't, you have to disappear.

I'm lucky. The best possible place in the world for training is Addis Ababa, so I am home all the time except when I am racing. I like to be there, near my family, my kids, also the real estate business I run with my wife.

I'm a runner first before anything else.