Day 2: Discovering rural Ethiopia
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), cattle and livestock, and families living near the road who were surprised to see a contingent of white North Americans run by. Among today’s highlights was a little local schoolboy in a backpack running in the gutter alongside the road to catch up with RAE’er Chris Treter. The next three days’ journey will exceed 30 miles, before we begin climbing again into the Rift Valley.
Here are videos from Day 2:
Just outside of Debre Zeyit, a local schoolboy joins the Run Across Ethiopia for almost a mile. Backpack in tow, he jumps over ditches, runs along the gutter, and catches up with Chris Treter.
Hans Voss, Michigan Land Use Institute executive director, gives a pep talk before Day 2 of the Run Across Ethiopia
Run Across Ethiopia organizer Timothy Young analyzes the run just before the second leg kicks off from Debre Zeyit.
Ohio native Claire Everhart shares her thoughts before setting off on Day 2 of the Run Across Ethiopia
Day 2 of the Run began in Debre Zeyit, a town south of Addis Ababa
In Debre Zeyit, the Run Across Ethiopia harriers share the road space with buses, cars, rickshaws, horses, and people.
Norm Plumstead talks about the changing scenery as the harriers leave Debre Zeyit on Day 2 of the Run Across Ethiopia
As the harriers left Debre Zeyit on Day 2 of the Run Across Ethiopia, the landscape around them changed to beautiful rolling fields and the visual gifts of rural East Africa.
