I'm a runner first before anything else.

I wanted to experience New York, to look up and see buildings.

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'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 always tell young athletes the same thing, 'Wherever you go, whatever you do, what must your top priority be? Running.'

You know the marathon in my country is just exceptional. It's like soccer in England. If England win the world cup and Ethiopia win the marathon - it's the same.

I'm retiring from competitive running, not from running. You cannot stop running, this is my life.