12 October 2018 – It is an ongoing pleasure to meet Radisson Blu guests and to take them running and hiking over the hills and forests above the city. The Radisson Blu – Run Africa partnership is strong and simple, aiming to give people great memories of their stay in Addis, thereby continuing to raise the quality of Ethiopian hôtellerie. On! On!
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11 October 2018 – Shoes. The athlete’s primary tool. Their wear – as well as their wearer – carry an intricate, individual history, composed from hundreds of thousands of steps over a plethora of terrains. Whether in a packed Olympic arena track or on a slow, quiet morning run on a muddy road, your shoes are just there. Ready to break that world, national, seasonal or personal best… or simply to bring you back in.
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9 October 2018 – 28 years apart. Reunited at the airport! Ethiopia-Eritrea peace deal signed. 2 countries. 1 blood. Border open. Next week sees a historic ‘Ethio-Eritrea Great Run’ 5k race take place in Meqele (Eth), organised by Tigray Region Athletics Federation. 2 global greats of distance running united in the sport they love.
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4 October 2018 – Now That’s What I Call Sub-60
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28 September 2018 – Do your favorite sport every day for a month. In one of the world’s best places for it. Meet your idol on the last day. Go home. Out-perform yourself. WELL DONE JADON! (U16 5k PB 17:46, London). THANKS FOR THE INSPIRATION, HAGOS! (5000m PB 12:45, set just five days earlier in the Brussels Diamond League).
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19 September 2018 – 78 seconds faster. A huge world record marker by Kipchoge. East Africa dominates yet again… although Kenya remains consistently stronger than Ethiopia in long distance, we admit! What do YOU think are the reasons for this?
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20 August 2018 – Ethiopian running success is about a lot more than poverty and altitude – read Michael Crawley’s article. We are looking forward to the full book, Mike!
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17 July 2018 – Congratulations and thanks to all Run Africa Athletics Club members on a great year. We look forward to even bigger and better things in 2011 EC!
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1 June 2018 – Scarring? Sweat? Sunlight? Do distance runners sport fewer tattoos than the general population? Commitment to long-term goals vs. the impulsive desire of a decorative tattoo? Theory pondered at https://www.quora.com/Why-do-marathon-runners-have-fewer-tattoos-than-the-general-population
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30 May 2018 – Most of the Ethiopian successful runners come from Arsi and Shewa.
Such locations benefit long-distance runners because “altitude natives” are used to lower oxygen level and their body produce more red blood cells and, consequently also more oxygen-storing haemoglobin.
Source: https://mpora.com/running/why-are-kenya-and-ethiopia-so-good-at-running
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28 May 2018 – Oi, oi? 95% of medalists at the world championships and the Olympic Games since 1968 have either lived or trained at altitude. https://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/altitude-training-for-everyone
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24 May 2018 – Coach Negash says: ‘Keep the amount of cereals and vegetables in your diet high. Don’t skip meals or go hungry for long periods. Fatty foods are also fine until the week of the race, when they should be avoided along with spicy foods’.
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21 May 2018 – Medical research again and again suggests that human creativity is determined by the activeness of, and activities performed, by the body. In other words, runners perform better in creative thinking tasks. Feel less bad about sneaking out of the office, come on!
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19 May 2018 – Merkato Market is massive madness! Spanning 11km2 and appearing as total chaos to any non-trader, don’t expect nicely laid-out African fabrics or goods ready for travelers to photograph. Instead, one of the continent’s largest outdoor markets offers no-nonsense bustling streets full of shopping opportunities. You might want a friend or a guide to help you find those traditional dresses, jewellery, trinkets made of recycled goods, local snacks and pungent Ethiopian spices.
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16 May 2018 – Most important Ethiopian food? Injera. Most important Ethiopian drink? Coffee. A goatherd in Kaffa Region in the 9th Century noticed how agitated his animals became after grazing on the fruits and beans. The rest is mystery, isn’t it? The drink’s global spread is due mainly to Arab traders. If coffee is part of your life, come and experience the ubiquitous smell of roasting ‘bunna’ in Ethiopia.
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12 May 2018 – Vegetarians and vegans visiting Ethiopia will certainly enjoy the Lent period before Orthodox Easter. Wednesdays and Fridays are also generally free of animal products most of the year. The traditional plant-based dishes are widely available, of course but, as a change from injera, you can also try the diverse vegetarian dishes offered in Addis Ababa’s other restaurants – such as Sangam Indian restaurant and Loving Hut vegan cafe. Bon appetit!
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10 May 2018 – Coach Negash says: ‘An hour before training it’s good to have bread with tea or roasted barley flour with honey and water – called “beso” in Amharic’.
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26 Apr 2018 – Official results at last for the 3rd Ethiopian Medical Association 5k last week. Winner Dejene Tola (14:33) was just seconds ahead of Run Africa athletes Habtamu Sisay (3rd) and Tadesse Kenne (4th) in the men’s race. The women’s race was won by Derartu Debela in 17:03. Well done all round!
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19 Apr 2018 – 31- year-old Yuki Kawauchi from Japan wins 2018 Boston Marathon. Non-professional, no sponsorship! Desi Linden aged 34 first American to win Boston in 30+ years. The world’s oldest annual marathon had very strong wind and heavy rain. The East Africans floundered. Kawauchi described it as ‘the best conditions possible’.
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9 Apr 2018 – Did you know that Abebe Bikila, who started running as a shepherd boy in the hills of Ethiopia and was the first black African to win Olympic gold, also acted for Kon Ichikawa’s ‘Tokyo Olympiad’, a documentary about the 1964 Summer Olympic Games? There was nowhere on the marathon course to film a runner with the Olympic cauldron flame. The director Ichikawa wanted the scene so he asked Bikila to run there the day after the race. Bikila agreed and ran 100 meters for him. When an assistant sprayed water on Bikila’s neck to make him look like he was sweating, “Bikila appeared offended but ran pleasantly,” cameraman Masuo Yamaguchi recalled. A four-second clip from the acting scene was included in the original film release.
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6 Apr 2018 – “Teff is the go-to food of some of the best runners in the world. In Ethiopia, most famously, it is used to prepare the traditional sourdough bread injera which is served as a staple side dish to spicy stews. Teff is rich in vitamins, iron, lysin and calcium and, above all, is gluten-free. These attributes make teff a perfect food for athletes.”
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3 Apr 2018 – “Highlights of our hiking excursion were the amazing views, spotting a hyena, the camaraderie in the group, Run Africa’s knowledge of the area, and the sense of accomplishment at the end.” – says LaToya from Chicago. Read here for more information on hiking with us around Addis Ababa, in areas such as Sululta, Anqorcha Forest and even going the long haul to Bekoji. See birds, baboons, hyenas and breathtaking views.
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31 Mar 2018 – ‘As if my life wasn’t bad enough, Arsenal is adding insult to injury. Alright for Wenger though, he has it easy.’ This sticker seen slowly fading in an Addis Ababa bus. We feel you Arsenal fans. All those years of hardship. Now fading too?
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21 Mar 2018 – Repost from Yassin (Italy), who ran with us last year: “Running in Ethiopia is such a unique experience! Altitude training at no less than 2,400m. Endless trails through forests, meadow and gravel. Bumping into elite runners or wild animals! Continuous efforts and dedication. Waking up no later than at 6am to find out everyone’s already out training! Erasing your training routines and learn running is an art that goes with feelings more than your stopwatch and schedule. An explosive mix of colours, people, energy. But it is also exploring how people really live and how poverty looks like. Tin shed housing, bumpy unpaved roads and children playing in the street, and welcoming smiles always there to meet runners. Thanks to @runafrica team and all Ethiopian runners!”
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18 Mar 2018 – Gymnast Simone Biles credits her surefootedness to her powers of concentration — and 30 minutes of core work every day. Both apply perfectly to distance running. How is your balance on the road?
– Biles photographed by Jean Roy, Vogue, April 2016
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14 Mar 2018 – On Sunday our female club runners squad here in Addis were joined in the UN Women First 5k by girls from Bekoji. These girls are led by Coach Fetiha, the first ever female coach in Bekoji, herself trained by the legendary Sentayehu Eshetu in the town, which is credited with more Olympic medals than India, Indonesia and Pakistan combined and is a hotbed for great runners such as the Dibabas, Bekele and many more.
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12 Mar 2018 – “I was not used to running so early in the morning, but afterwards I felt full of energy and ready for the day. The training sessions had a good flow, and dynamic stretches at the end was new for me. To run with athletes at this level was a great feeling.” Laura from Switzerland on a break in Ethiopia.
Glad to see her and athlete guide Gete out and about in the early morn’. Also wake up early and join one of our training programmes, either when you are visiting Ethiopia or are based in Ethiopia.
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9 Mar 2018 – 5th in Dubai Marathon. Married 7 days later. Many happy returns and honeymoon throwbacks to Sisay Lemma and Hana Senyi!
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6 Mar 2018 – Another great one for Ethiopia at the 2018 Birmingham World Indoor Championships. Congrats to Genzebe Dibaba, Samuel Tefera, Yomif Kejelcha, and Selemon Barega for bringing home four gold and one silver medal. And what a fantastic 1500m race. It looked like Sifan Hassan was going for that top spot but Dibaba’s increase in speed is just too much for anyone to keep up. Great race by Laura Muir as well.
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2 Mar 2018 – Look closely. These $2 strapped foam sandals are gaining ground in Ethiopia. They make a mockery of all the tech-mad shoe hype nowadays. Amogne Sendeku won two Chinese marathons in his plastic sandals last year – more on that later. Our runner Habtamu Sisay came 59th in one of the highest-calibre cross-country races in the world at Jan Meda, Addis Ababa. Plastic Fantastic, man!
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26 Feb 2018 – Here are some of our photos from the 35th Jan Meda International Cross Country, Ethiopia’s most competitive cross-country race. It’s a world-class field and we had our best ever results for Run Africa AC!
In the women’s 8K Shewaye Erpesa finished 34th and Kassahun Adamte finished 49th in the men’s 8K. In the men’s 10K we had 5 finishers in the top 💯 – while even the likes of Moktar Edris and Mosinet Geremew either dropped out from the strong heat or finished low down the field.
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21 Feb 2018 – Thank you for your inspiration and great chats, Henry and Stefani! We hope some of the Addis weather made it back with you to ease up the Boston winter. Determination always inspires: a rocky tumble and graze on day 1 did not stop Stefani from running 90 minutes on day 2 – at 2,650m altitude. All this just six months after having a baby. Be like Stefani and join one of our training programmes,, either when you are visiting Ethiopia or are based in Ethiopia.
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18 Feb 2018 – We filmed a snippet of the exciting pre-race anticipation before the women’s elite chapter of the Hawassa Half Marathon 2018.
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16 Feb 2018 – Hawassa Half Marathon 2018. Might you join us in February 2019? Contact us for more details.
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12 Feb 2018 – We are currently advertising the following internship positions:
1. Internship: Data Analyst & Strategist
2. Internship: Club Development Officer
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