On Jan. 20, a team of American runners with northern Michigan roots arrived in a coffee-growing village near Yirgachefe after running 250 miles over 12 days through Ethiopia’s ancient Rift Valley. Glen Arbor Sun editor Jacob Wheeler joined the Run Across Ethiopia and submitted reports, photos and videos from the trail.
Click here for videos from the group’s first two days in-country. And here are clips from the team’s run in the Entoto mountains — “the mecca” of long-distance training. And they’re off! The run has begun. Here are videos from the opening day. On day 2, the runners left the urban jungle and are now trekking through rural Ethiopia. Day 3, when the going gets tough, the runners leg out 30 miles.
Run Across Ethiopia support van provides sustenance, the focus of our Day 4 coverage. Music lifts the mood on Day 5. Runners draft like Canadian honkers on Day 6. Back at full strength on Day 7. On Day 8 the Run Across Ethiopia family expands. Seth Bernard and Daisy May are music to our ears on Day 9. Here are the fruits of Ethiopia: coffee, khat, sugarcane and beautiful people. The team gets emotional in Hase Gola on Day 10. Time spent with poor coffee farmers shows what an Ethiopian village needs. And on Day 12 the Run Across Ethiopia reaches the finish line!
Tags: Run Across Ethiopia
[...] The Glen Arbor Sun chronicled On the Ground’s Run Across Ethiopia this past January, as editor Jacob Wheeler joined a team of runners who traversed 250 miles across rural Ethiopia to raise money for fair-trade coffee farmers. Now “When We Run”, videographer James Weston’s documentary about Run Across Ethiopia, will premier this Saturday at 8 p.m. at the State Theatre as part of the Great Lakes Bioneers Conference. The trip, with support from Higher Grounds Trading Company, raised awareness and money for the development of schools in Ethiopian coffee farming communities. The Earthwork Collective’s Seth Bernard and May Erlewine performed the original soundtrack. After the film you’ll be able to meet members of the cast and production crew for an informal Q & A session. [...]