A shade over 42 kilometres, or 26.2 miles in old money, the marathon is an endeavour of resilience. The story of how Hiko Tonosa came to represent Ireland draws few parallels.
Originally from Shashamane in Ethiopia, around 250km south of the country’s capital Addis Ababa, Tonosa came to Ireland in July 2017 to compete at two events, the Morton Games in Dublin and Cork City Sports. It was a decision that may have saved his life.
Towards the end of 2016, he took part in a demonstration in Ethiopia protesting the oppression of Oromo people, the African nation’s largest ethnic group. He was arrested at the protest and subsequently detained for three months. Following his release, Tonosa’s agent secured him starting spots at the two Irish events.
On the morning he was due to compete in the 5,000m at the Morton Games, he learned his friend, a fellow athlete, had been shot dead by authorities in Ethiopia. Reeling from the news, he still managed to clock 13:52.72 and his plan to return home remained unchanged. But a week later, while in Cork, Tonosa received a call warning him it was not safe to return to Ethiopia due to his involvement in the protest the previous year. With little in the way of options, the then 21-year-old applied for asylum in Ireland.
“It was very difficult, the first year,” Tonosa says of his start in Ireland. “It was difficult because the language and cultures and everything. Learning English, improving my running, getting back to my training fully. It was difficult.”
Not only adrift from his established training group, he quickly learned the Direct Provision system is a far cry from a suitable environment for someone aspiring to be a high-level athlete.
“The big thing for me was the room,” he says. “You’re sharing with the people. When I wanted to rest, [roommates] didn’t want to rest. When you want to see TV or watch a movie, or something like that [and they don’t].
“Everyone has a different life . . . If they disturb me, I will leave the room. If they are sleeping, I have to go to bed.”
Hiko Tonosa representing Ireland in the half marathon at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Throughout that challenging period, running was his great escape. It helped him navigate his new life in Ireland.
He joined Dundrum South Dublin Athletics Club and later linked up with coach Feidhlim Kelly in the Dublin Track Club.
“I will give all credit [to] my clubs and people around me. A lot of people, especially around athletics [who] supported me,” says Tonosa.
“My clubs stood with me. They helped me for running and said ‘you will be okay soon, don’t worry, you will be good in the future’. I can’t say thank you, it’s not enough, so I will say God bless you.”
Receiving his Irish citizenship in March 2020 marked a turning point in his life, on and off the track. It meant the cloud of uncertainty and fear which had for years hung over him finally started to dissipate.
“That was a special day for me,” he says of the ceremony in Killarney, Co Kerry. At last able to live, work and travel without restrictions, Tonosa could turn his focus back to competing at the highest level.
Kelly suggested he should look to represent Ireland, now that he had his passport. The thought had never crossed Tonosa’s mind, but it came to pass in December 2021 when he was one of a five-strong Irish field in the men’s senior race at the European Cross-Country Championships in Dublin. Tonosa was first of the Irish contingent home in 13th. The race was won by two-time Olympic gold medallist Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway.
Hiko Tonosa receives his Irish citizenship at a ceremony in Killarney, Co Kerry, in 2020.
“That was my beginning,” says Tonosa, adding he now wants to represent the country that offered him safe harbour to the best of his ability.
In the closing stretch of the 2024 Dublin Marathon, cheered home by an exuberant crowd, Tonosa scanned for a Tricolour to hold as he crossed the finish line to claim the national title in 2:09.42 – a then Irish record.
“The big goal was to hold the flag,” the 30-year-old recalls. “When I was in trouble, I got a chance from that flag, from the [Irish] people, to live.”
But he naturally still feels the pull of Ethiopia. He misses friends and family, especially his mother.
“She’s very surprised,” Tonosa says of her thoughts on him representing Ireland. “I got my first [Ireland] jersey and got a picture and sent it to her. She doesn’t have a smartphone, so my brother showed her. And then after I run, I sent a video and I spoke to her as well.
“She was surprised and she was crying. She’s so happy.”
After a 2025 season hampered by injury, he returned to action at the Paris Marathon on April 12th. His time of 2:29.57 in the French capital was some way off his 2024 personal best, but it’s a starting point.
And the end point?
“I promised myself [I’d] try do something special. I want to go to the Olympics. But not only go, to run very well.”
That Irish passport will still be in date for a spin to LA in 2028.