Workout Wednesday: Obsaa Feda/Eldad Mulugeta

Tags: Workout

SILVER SPRING, Maryland -- Our latest Workout Wednesday checked in with the Northwood High School duo of Obsaa Feda and Eldad Mulugeta, who became the first tandem in Maryland history to break 9:10 in the 3200 meter run when they finished one-two at the Raleigh Relays recently. 

Mulugeta won with a PR of 9:04 and Feda clocked a personal best as well in 9:09.

Three big races are ahead for the pair: 

  • A matchup in the 1600m against 4:18 state champion miler Kyle Lund of Oakdale next Thursday at the Scorpion Classic
  • In the Penn Relays 3K later this month
  • And another sub-9 opportunity at the Loucks Games in May

MileSplit.com visited them for one of their toughest workouts yet this season.

The Workout: 

  • The warm-up began with a 6-minute tempo on the track at 5:20 mile pace.
  • The meat of the workout included five 1K repeats at max VO2 pace and with 3 minutes rest in between.
  • The pair, who qualified individually for Nike Cross Nationals this past fall, rolled to consistently fast times of 2:55, 2:51, 2:53, 2:52, and 2:51.
  • To conclude their workout, Feda and Mulugeta ran 4x100 meter strides on the straightaways while jogging the turns.

Background: 

The duo have been role models and great examples for a heavy Ethiopian immigrant community found in the Silver Spring area. They have inspired many of their teammates and peers to follow in their footsteps, in some ways to use running as means to a college education.

Feda, in particular, has been a natural leader for a group that finished as the state runner-up team in cross country and also won the 4x800 meter relay state title this past indoor season. He'll be racing for the first time this weekend in the 2K steeplechase at the Woodward Relays, which is an event he hopes to compete  for a national title this June at New Balance Nationals Outdoor.

He's still undecided on college, but programs such as Northern Arizona University -- the three-time defending NCAA champions in cross country -- and NC State among the schools showing interest.

Mulugeta is taking the junior college route, and he will head to Iowa Central Community College before hoping to raise his grades to be eligible to run at a major Division 1 school eventually.

A late bloomer, Mulugeta took over predominantly as the team's top runner from Feda (this year's 4A state cross country champ) at the end of cross country season -- he was the higher finisher at NXR Southeast and NXN.

Both are looking to chase after the Maryland outdoor state meet record of 9:06, which is currently held by a past Foot Locker National champion, Solomon Haile.

Northwood coach Gio Reumante, known simply as Coach Gio by his athletes, has done a great job developing these two. He noted the synergy between the duo when they train and race together, which isn't always easy to find.

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