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Published: November 24th 2009
Crazy about Running?
The Ethiopians certainly are!We did it!
With Mr Bean growing inside Sara we thought it would not be kind to put them both through the run, however they both supported from the sidelines - Sara screaming at surprised runners (and Mr Bean adding the odd kick or two of encouragement).
With the support of Sara, Jan and Al I got through the Great Ethiopian Run and we now hope - through
YOU (dear reader) and other supporter's help, to reach the target of £5,000 for VSO that we set in late 2007 when we knew we would be volunteering for two years.
Training Runs For the previous three weeks I had been busy reminding my body that I used to run 10K and half-marathon races once upon a time in the UK.
Now past 40 my body seems to be showing signs of selective dementia and it has been something of a challenge to get the legs going the way they used to.
Jogging around Assosa at 7am in the morning for 15, 20, 25, 30 then 35 minutes was not always much fun. Particularly as the butt of humour to passers by and kids. I was regularly
Outside the VSO Office
Nancy, Joanna, Al & one of the VSO guards beaten during my fast *sprints* by 8 year old kids in flip flops 😊
I also gave up all alcohol for over 2 weeks and did a Divina workout every third day.
Still, no pain no gain.
A final hour in the Axum gym in Addis and I was ready (with training + adrenaline) for 10k around the streets of Addis on Sunday morning.
Crazy about Running! The atmosphere in Addis had been building in the days leading up to the race. The airport had a big banner welcoming runners, Jan & Al (Sara's sister and hubbie, visiting for a holiday) had met Ferengis who had flown over specifically for the race and "Miss Paula" (Radcliffe) was flying in to start it all on the Sunday at 9am.
A bunch of VSOs were also heading to Addis to take part and enjoy the atmosphere.
We arranged to meet up with Nancy and Joanna before heading on a line taxi to Kasanchies and then walking through to the official VSO meet place - outside the Hilton Hotel.
On the way we stopped off at Clare's band, just opposite the Jupiter Hotel in Kasanchies
Poor old Clare's vocal chords
Singing at 8am in Kasanchies :o where they had been banging out tunes since at least 8am in anticipation of the race.
After a few pre-race pictures we joined up with the green-shirted masses heading down towards the start at Meskel Square (the 14 lane expanse at the heart of Addis).
Apparently 33,000 runners had registered, though many more jump in and out of the race as is passes by - they just cannot collect a medal without the official t-shirt. Some also just buy the t-shirt and do not enter.
Ther is no chip or tagging system like the UK. Your 50 birr green t-shirt is your entry card. No race numbers or "veteran" classes (as I guess I am now) and no start organised by predicted finish time - I guess no one actually cares about times! It's all about the craic 😊
The Great Ethiopian Party I had already decided I was going to run the whole way. If I am being sponsored then my personal opinion is that if people are going to give up their hard-earned money for my cause, then I better earn it the hard way.
Only one other VSO was interested in
Heading to the start line
Bit of pre-race singing as a warm-up running/jogging the whole way, and we tried to get closer to the front than the VSO walkers.
Paula teased us for 5 minutes before the race started around 9.05 and a seething mass lurched forward, stopped, lurched forward again and with cheers, dances, hops and skips were were all underway.
With a wave to the TV camera and the *important people* (no one I recognised) in the Toyota Stand we were off towards Mexico - The Supreme Court - Hotel D'Afrique - Mexico again - National Theatre - Filwuha - Hilton Hill - Kazanchis - Total Garage - Urael and the to the finish at Meskel Square again.
The start is uphill towards La Gare station and as you top the rise there was a wonderful view of a sea of green-shirted runners stretching out into the distance towards Mexico square. I was later told I should have looked behind me for an even more spectacular sight of eveyone's faces in an even longer green mass snaking back behind me.
People were laughing, singing, chanting, sprinting, walking, holding hands. Very much a carnival atmosphere. I could hear some soccer chants (Buna vs St George - the
The VSO Runners
Outside the Hilton Hotel big Addis teams). There were also some war or marching chants which were quite handy to keep time to.
Many runners were through charities, NGOs and businesses and some even sang corporate songs.
There was the usual political singing and (I didn't see it) the chants directed towards the Prime Minister's residence.
Lots of people were run/walking around me and very much like the Great North Run, you spend much of your time dodging around walkers and hopping on and off pavements. I overheard someone saying afterwards that he thought he had run 10k along the race route and about 5k around people!
Apart from Clare's band (Ishee Beckah Ciao) there was an Ethiopian singer at Mexico and a number of big sound systenms beating out Ethiopian tunes.
I saw a few people in fancy dress - a couple of monkey masks and wigs. No soldiers pounding along with full back-packs and buckets of change and certainly no batman and robins or santa claus. There was the semi-naked Ferengi guy in a "mankini" who raised a few eyebrows!
At one point after Mexico a whole bunch of runners dived off left (including some Ferengis
Gathering for the start
Packed Meskel Square - the centre of Addis - probably confused) to take a notorious short-cut. The more honest runners carried on slogging up the hill and saw the short-cutters rejoining the race about 1km later. All around us the cry went up of "Lieba, Lieba" or "Thief, Thief" directed towards the cheating runners.
The Great Ethiopian Thirst Well having run 4 or 5 half-marathons and a couple of 10ks in the UK I think I can safely say this was the hardest race I have run.
Only taking 3 weeks to prepare was a factor but as a previous runner pointed out - it is 7km uphil, 2km downhill and 1km on the flat. That's about how it felt as well.
Then you chuck in an altitude of 2,600m (third highest capital in the world), which normally gets you wheezing just going up stairs).
Dose it all with a liberal sprinkling of mid-morning African sun and...
...no water!
I was expecting watering points every 2km, but as it turned out there was no free water at all. Of course I was running without my wallet and although water was available - it was all being sold by opportunistic bystanders. I
Al & Jonathan
A couple of veterans from the VSO Feb 08 intake grabbed a bottle after 4km - thinking it was free - and the guy refused to let go! He shouted "money" after me - I pointed at my pocketless running shorts and cursed.
To cap it all, Sara was meant to be waiting at 7km and I knew she had water but as we got there (I had met up with Carol again) we couldn't see anyone we knew and had to run on disappointed and partched.
Digging deep I headed onwards and tried to find a final burst across the line to finish in around 1 hour and 8 minutes (probably around 1 hour 5 or 6 given the delay crossing the line at the start).
Not a PB - we normally run 10k in around 50-55 minutes - but that was not the point. It was a great experience and hopefully (reminder: with your help!) we can raise that extra money to reach our VSO Fundraising target.
Meskel Square walkways were closed so I had a long warm-down walk back to the National Theatre then along past Filwaha to meet Sara, Jan & Al again about 20 minutes later in Kazanchies.
So a
More VSO runners
All the more fun :) sweaty hug and an "Al with the medal photo" later we headed off for a soft-drink before a shower back home and over to Doreen's for a VSO post-race party to celebrate Nancy's birthday.
****
Back at home and re-united with my mobile phone, I began getting calls and texts from friends and work-mates in Assosa; congratulating me on being the representative runner of Assosa and finishing the race. I was told to bring my medal into work when back in Assosa as everyone is keen to see the t-shirt and medal that they had all seen on TV!!!
****
If you are able to sponsor us - please do! It goes to VSO directly, not us.
You can either use our just giving web site http://original.justgiving.com/alandsarainethiopia/
Or post a cheque to VSO c/o 40 Selborne Rd, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 9PH.
VERY MANY THANKS to all of you who have supported us so far! 😊
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Ravi from India
non-member comment
Good one
Great explanation and nice to read Al ... keep writing ......