She gained representation with Elite Sports Management International in 2006 and began competing in road races in Spain that year.

[5] She finished twelfth at the world event held in Amman and she was part of the silver medal-winning Ethiopian women's team.

[4] That August she won the 7-mile Falmouth race and set a personal best at the New York City Half Marathon, coming in second place behind Paula Radcliffe in a time of 1:11:04 hours.

[11] At the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Poland in March she improved upon her performance from the previous year, coming eighth and again taking the team silver with Ethiopia.

[12] She turned to the American road circuit later that year and won the Bolder Boulder, was the runner-up at the Lilac Bloomsday Run, and had podium finishes at the Bay to Breakers and Freihofer's 5K.

[4] She posted a time of 2:26:33 hours to win the Houston Marathon in January 2011, completing an Ethiopian sweep of the top two with Ashu Kasim.