Run Across Ethiopia Day 3: When the going gets tough

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. Coach Dan Zemper (Traverse City, Michigan) has turned out to be a godsend, kneading sore muscles at all hours like a determined baker. As a result, a twisted ankle early yesterday didn’t stop one runner from remarkably completing all 30 miles. Here are videos from Day 3:

Barefoot kids join our team for a brief stretch (as they have in nearly every village we’ve passed through):

Runner Norm Plumstead narrates how he feels — about physical conditions and about the beauty unfolding all around us:

A thorn that briefly embeds itself into the sole of Chris Girrbach’s shoe doesn’t stop the Traverse City runner. He enjoys sharing a tall tale afterward: