How did 1,000 ganja-loving Jamaican Rastafarians show up in a rural village in southern Ethiopia? The Run Across Ethiopia harriers learned how on Day 6 of their 250-mile run to Yirgachefe. Former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie (“Negus Negusti”, the “king of kings”) gave land in the village of Shashomane, north of Hawassa, to 300 Jamaican Rastafarians in the 1950s. Rastafarians believed that Selassie was a prophet from God.
Coach Dan Zemper — a late but very important addition to the run — held court with an allegorical story about how Canadian geese fly faster in a tight V formation because they remain in a pack, draft behind one another, and never let a single goose fall behind. The runners took Zemper’s words to heart, remained in a pack today, and finished strong despite a vicious midday sun that beat through a cloudless sky.
Today, the Run Across Ethiopia harriers and local Tesfa team runners faced a third straight 30-mile run through the Rift Valley to Lake Lagano. The team that awoke this morning before 5 a.m. hobbled, limped, crawled and pranced their way to the bus for a predawn breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and coffee — some of their toes bound in tape and sore ankles and knees wrapped, their stomachs victims of the local cuisine, and looking battle-weary like soldiers returning from the front.
Michigan Land Use Institute executive director Hans Voss, one of the original activists behind the Run Across Ethiopia, saw a different side of the run today. Voss sprained his ankle early on Day 3 but gutted out the entire 30-mile run yesterday. But extensive swelling last night convinced the competitive athlete that riding in the support van today might be wise.
Yesterday the team of Run Across Ethiopia harriers completed their first of four consecutive 30-mile-per-day bouts, starting at 7 a.m. in Koke and finishing at 1:30 p.m. in the midday heat in Meki. Fighting through aches and pains are a given now, but so is the supportive camaraderie that keeps our gang together, running in a pack and dishing out encouragement like a support group.
The Run Across Ethiopia harriers stepped things up a notch on Day 2 of the 250-mile, 11-day journey. This morning, shortly before 8 a.m., we left the town of Debre Zeyit and headed southeast, then due south, on a 28-mile jog, during which the urban congestion gave way to beautiful rolling fields of teff grass (which Ethiopians use to make injera, their national dish).
This morning at 9:38 a.m. local time (1:38 a.m. in Michigan), the much anticipated Run Across Ethiopia put feet to the road and began jogging south, out of Addis Ababa toward Yirgachefe. Here a few short videos taken shortly before, during and after the run’s beginning.
At 9:38 a.m. local time (1:38 a.m. in Michigan), the Run Across Ethiopia departed from Addis Ababa to fanfare, words of rally from organizer Timothy Young, and the brief participation of Ethiopian Olympic gold medal winner Million Wolde (5,000 meters, Sydney 2000) as well as a handful of friends, journalists and onlookers.
Long-distance harriers from all over the world come to the majestic Entoto mountains just outside of Addis Ababa to train at high elevations surrounded by refreshing Eucalyptus forests … and even hairy baboons. The day before the Run Across Ethiopia team set off on a 250-mile, 10-day jog for Yrgachefe, we did a practice run (about 6 miles) at Entoto. Check out the videos below (and kudos to the burly RAE’er Jeffrey Metzler for chasing a team of baboons back into the forest!
Most of the northern Michigan-based Run Across Ethiopia crew arrived in Addis Ababa late on Thursday night, Jan. 6, in preparation for their departure southward on Sunday, Jan. 9. Here are a few videos of the excited group’s arrival days of preparation before running 250 miles over 10 days to the Yirgacheffe coffee-growing region.