I just got back from spending a week in Bekoji - the Town of Runners in Ethiopia! Major findings: I am an incredibly slow runner but decently talented Foosball player, Olympic athletes are made in Bekoji and pasta is the breakfast of champions...literally.
Athletes from the Bekoji Project begin their hill workout in the forest of Bekoji.
The small, quiet town just south of Addis is home to some of the world's most legendary runners,including Tirunesh Dibaba, Kenenisa Bekele and Derartu Tulu. In the early hours of the morning, a team of young runners takes to the forest, track or cow pasture to train under the direction of Coach Sentayehu. A legend and community figure, Coach Sentayehu has trained all of the record breaking runners that have come from Bekoji. He now coaches a team of elite and highly dedicated runners in Bekoji, including the 6 girl runners and female coach that are being sponsored by the Girls Gotta Run Foundation.
After a four hour car ride, I arrived in Bekoji with Malcolm Anderson of Running Across Borders and Shane Benzie of Running Reborn. Shane is a coach in the UK and came to Bekoji to better understand the coaching technique used to develop some of the world's greatest athletes. In a fortunate turn of events, Malcolm was able to make a brief trip out to Ethiopia on his way back from an athletics conference in Kenya. The timing of his trip was perfect as we were able to discuss the progress of the Bekoji Project with our local partners in person. Upon arrival, I met the other faringee (foreigner) in town. He was a doctor from Poland named Marcin and was inspired to visit Bekoji after watching the Town of Runners.
The girls of the Bekoji Project, GGRF Executive Director Kayla Nolan and Coach Sentayehu. Not pictured is the 6th member of the girls' team, Megertu.
My first morning in Bekoji, I woke up at 6:30AM and trekked over to the forest with my posse of faringees and the narrator of the Town of Runners film turned Bekoji Project Assistant Manager, Baruk. The sun was just peaking through the trees as Coach Sentayehu explained the training for the morning: hill repeats... eight of them. The team divided into girls and boys for the warmup. Running in two parallel lines, both groups ran back and forth across the red dirt adjacent to the forest. Each group had its own rhythm as they marched out the morning soundtrack - step, step, step, step.
With an elevation of 2,810 meters, I occasionally found that I couldn't catch my breath while walking up a gentle slope in Bekoji. The athletes, however, ran past in silence. Their breath, controlled, and their stride, long. They darted through the forest and sprinted up the hill with equal parts grace and power. After completing the workout, the athletes put their warmup clothes back on, sipped some water and listened to Coach Sinteyahu give his post-workout talk - just another day at the office.
The girls begin their first hill repeat of the morning.
The team relaxes and listens to the coaches after a challenging morning workout in the forest.
In Bekoji, running is a lifestyle, a discipline, a profession. The Girls Gotta Run Foundation supports the athletic development of six girl runners and the professional development of Bekoji's first female coach. When I first met the seven girls we support as part of the Bekoji Project, they were shy and timid. They politely shook my hand and took a photo with me. But as the week moved on, the girls slowly began to open up and reveal their determination, focus and silliness.
One night, Malcolm and I invited the male and female athletes and coaches of the Bekoji Project over for dinner at the Wabe Hotel. We all sat down at a table made of several small tables pushed together. Most of the athletes ordered pasta. A universal meal that was often chosen for breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Wabe Hotel. The main challenge before me: how to bond with a group of girls when we don't speak the same language. Coach Sentayehu was able to help a bit with the translation but the communication was limited. I decided to try a game instead. Tic tac toe! Unfortunately, this game is not easily explained with out verbal directions and has not yet made it to Bekoji... so I decided to try a new idea: drawing my family. I made small, stick figure drawings of my family and explained who each person was with my limited Amharic. I then gave the girls a piece of paper and pen to draw their families. The drawings are pictured below. Fatia, the GGRF coach, wasn't able to complete a drawing at dinner because she was eating injera. The next morning, Fatia gave me a detailed drawing of her family at practice.
My unfortunate stick figure drawings and extremely small family seemed to break the ice a bit with the girls. The next day I brought out the big guns: free athletic gear! Thanks to Running Across Borders and Adidas, GGRF was able to outfit the six girls and coach with new training and racing gear! Here are a few pictures of me handing out the gear and explaining what each athlete was receiving:
On our way out of Bekoji, Shane and I were able to meet up with Hawi and see the brand new track in Asella. Hawi is one of the girl runners featured in the Town of Runners film. She is currently living in Asella and running on the Asella track club. She was feeling a bit sick when we met but still chatted with me and Baruk about her life in Asella. Here's a picture of us at the coffee shop:
We were lucky enough to see the new track in Asella before heading back to Addis. When I was in Asella in 2009, the town's track was made of dark red dirt. Today, it's made of soft tar and is worth over a million dollars! Baruk informed me that I would have to pay if I took a photo of the track so instead I took a mental picture. The Asella track was where I met the film makers of the Town of Runners, Dan and Jerry, in 2009. We were all attending the Oromia Championships in Asella - I was interviewing girl runners from the region for my research and they were filming the race. The track definitely felt different than it did in 2009. So did I.
I'm heading to the Simien Mountains next week. Stay tuned for more updates on our programs from Ethiopia!
Thanks for reading!
Kayla
Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 10:23AM
WHILE IN DEBARK, I met with the Assistant Officer of the Debark Youth and Sports Office, Sitotaw Tagebe, and learned that, since 2011, one girl had became a professional runner in Addis Ababa, two girls went to work oversees with their families, three girls completed college or vocational school and secured jobs elsewhere in Ethiopia and the rest are working in Debark.
