Living in Gerar Ber, a town some 40 km north of Addis Ababa, he collected firewood to sell and herded livestock to supplement his father's earnings, paying for his own education and the rest of his family.
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At the 2010 London Marathon, he set his sights on beating the defending champion Samuel Wanjiru.
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He ate one meal a day and had to work every day to earn around 2.50 Ethiopian birr (US$0.30).