Helalia Johannes

Helalia Johannes (Helalia Lukeiko Johannes, also Hilaria Johannes; born 13 August 1980) is a Namibian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. She holds the Namibian records in the 10 km, 20 km, half marathon and marathon events.

She represented her country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics and has won medals at the Military World Games and the All-Africa Games.

She was born in the village of Oshali in the Oshana Region. She has won the half marathon section of the Two Oceans Marathon on four occasions.

Johannes made her international debut at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she finished 80th in the women's long race. She came fifth in the half marathon of the 2007 Summer Universiade and completed the same feat at the 2007 All-Africa Games. She also ran in the Dublin Marathon that year, coming in fourth place.

Johannes ran a qualifying time (2:37:00) of 2:33:06 hours at the Seoul International Marathon in March 2008, qualifying her for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the Olympic marathon race she placed fortieth in the rankings. She again represented her country on the global stage at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, but finished 56th in a slow time of 2:50:19 hours. She rebounded at the Dublin Marathon, finishing as the runner-up. The following year she had one of her best international performances, coming 16th at the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

She was the 2011 winner of the Dublin Marathon in a personal best and Namibian national record run of 2:30:37 hours. That year she won two bronze medals for Namibia, first in the marathon at the 2011 Military World Games and then in the half marathon at the 2011 All-Africa Games. She knocked more than three minutes off her then personal best at the 2012 Vienna Marathon, taking third place behind Olga Glok. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Johannes knocked more than a minute off that personal best, finishing in 12th with a new best of 2:26:09 – a Namibian record. Her third and final marathon outing of 2012 came in Dublin, but she was somewhat slower and came sixth in a time of 2:35:01 hours.

She entered the 2013 Tokyo Marathon and finished in under two and a half hours, taking sixth place. She was chosen to represent Namibia in the marathon at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, but failed to finish. At the start of 2014 she ran 2:28:27 hours for third place at the Seoul International Marathon.