Two-time Olympian and 2010 New York City champion Gebregziabher “Gebre” (GEB-ray) Gebremariam has made the podium twice in Boston. In 2011, he had the race of his career, as he improved his personal best by more than three minutes to place third in 2:04:53. In 2013, he contended with Lelisa Desisa and Micah Kogo down the Boylston finishing stretch and finished third, just six seconds shy of the win. In 2012, with temperatures reaching 85 degrees, Gebremariam struggled on the Boston course, but in championship style, continued to the finish line rather than drop from the race. Last year in New York City he challenged a highly competitive field and improbable weather to finish third behind Wilson Kipsang and Lelisa Desisa. Gebremariam began competing internationally as a junior. In 2002, he won the IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships, won the IAAF World Junior 10,000m Championships, and earned a bronze in IAAF World Junior 5,000m Championships. In 2004 he finished second at the IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships in both the short and long races. Also in 2004, he made the Ethiopian Olympic Team and finished fourth in the 5,000m in Athens. After that early success, Gebremariam did not medal at an international event until 2009, when he won the World Cross Country Championships. In 2012 he again represented his country at the Olympics and finished eighth in the 10,000m.

Gebremariam grew up on a farm in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and began running in high school. He moved to the capital and started training with world championship runner Werknesh Kidane and her running club. Gebremariam and Kidane married in 2006 and the couple now has two sons named Nathaniel and Muse. In 2011, both Gebremariam and Kidane ran Boston and they became the then fastest husband-wife marathoners in history with a combined time of 4:31:08.