He has largely focused on road running since 2008, scoring wins at the New York City Half Marathon and San Silvestre Vallecana.

He finished seventh at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships, thereby helping Ethiopia to a bronze medal in the team competition.

A week after the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, he won the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run in Washington DC.

[11] Tadese Tola began 2010 with a second-place finish at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, setting a personal best of 59:49 on the way.

[13][14] He took the top honours at the Portugal Half Marathon in September, beating Josphat Menjo and Francis Kiprop to win in 1:01:05.

[16] He was one of the favourites entering the 2011 Eindhoven Marathon, but he finished fourth in a time of 2:07:13 hours while the relatively unknown Jafred Chirchir Kipchumba won the race.

However, he managed only fifth place due to the high quality of the field, where the winner Ayele Abshero became the fourth fastest man ever.