Altitude Training Options: Ethiopia

Ethiopia is less well known as an altitude training destination than neighbouring Kenya, but the opening of excellent training facilities like Yaya Village and the success of the 2012 film Town of Runners have done much to increase the country’s appeal.  Indeed, Ethiopia’s tourism potential across the board is considerably underdeveloped, and many are surprised to learn of the country’s beauty, cultural diversity, and friendlessness, and that Ethiopia has nine UNESCO world heritage sites!

Sululta, a small town just 11 kilometres north of Addis Ababa, is where many of the athletes who live in the capital carry out their daily training sessions.  It is also home to Yaya Village, a purpose-built training resort which has attracted athletes from across the world since it opened in 2011.  The eucalyptus forests, dirt roads, and grass clearings make for varied running terrain, and the recent opening of a synthetic track, owned by multiple Olympic Champion and world record holder Kenenisa Bekele, is a significant addition for those with a need for speed. 

Those who want to get to the real heart grass roots Ethiopian distance running can visit Bekoji, aka Town of Runners, a small town south west of Addis Ababa.  The town has produced athletes who, between them, have won 10 Olympic gold medals, broken more than a dozen world records, and won more than 30 world championship titles.  Derartu Tulu, Kenenisa and Tariku Bekele, and Ejegayehu, Tirunesh and Genzebe Dibaba.  Visitors to the town have the opportunity to watch the next generation of world-beaters train, and to meet the coach who guided the aforementioned stars in their earlier years.

The Great Ethiopian Run is the largest road race in Africa, and each year it attracts hundreds of overseas participants wishing to test themselves against the altitude, the heat, and more than 10,000 other runners and joggers.

Blogs from my 2010 visit include: Ethiopia by Picture, Farewell Africa...For Now,  This is Ethiopia, Can I be a 'Funrunner' for a Day?, The Carb Queen is Dead and Gone,  and Addis, while during my 2014 visit I blogged about meeting Haile Gebreselaise, wrote about my trip to Bekoji, and summarised my trip in a photo blog. Shane Benzie from Running Reborn wrote a guest piece about training in Bekoji for us in July, 2014.

Additional photos can be viewed here (2014 visit) and here (2010 visit).

More information on altitude training in Ethiopia, and details  of how to arrange a trip there can be found in Notes from Higher Grounds: an Altitude Training Guide for Endurance Athletes.

Ethiopia by Picture

I've had a fantastic time in Sululta, and to make the end of another great trip, here are a series of photos with commentary and observations.

Yaya Village was a truely special place to stay, and I am grateful to them for providing accommodation for the duration of my trip.

We managed to fill a lot of our time with training, sleeping and eating (consuming seven slices of bread for breafast takes time!), but our occassional journeys outside the camp were always interesting, enjoyable and action packed.  The Ethiopian roads are like a playground in themselves.

The road that climbs from Addis Ababa to Sululta, continues north to the Ethiopia's famous historic sites, including the ancient cities of Gondor, Auxm and Lalibella. The historic route is marked by these carvings, just a few kilometres from the capital.

Interestingly, there's also a 'Coca-cola' carving above these.  They really do get everywhere!

And there are always lots of donkeys.

And the animals are so used to sharing the road that they seem immune to the traffic.  This cow had made a couple of attempts to cross the road before deciding she wanted to live another day. (This is the main road between Addis Ababa, the capital, and the port in Djibouti.)

Animals are commonplace on the quieter roads.

Animals weren't the only obstruction during our trip to Bekoji, and even after leaving the main road, we had lots of people and other vehicles to contend with.  These slow moving Bajajs were particularly plentiful in the towns and villages along the way, and seem to pull out at any moment. 

But as I mentioned in a previous post, it's not all bad, and you do get miles and miles of views like these:

Even in the cities, the views are interesting.  The shops are very different to back home, and you're never sure what unusual scene you're going to find

Even the simple act of taking a taxi can be an adventure.  A few days ago we hired a minibus to take us into the city, wait for us while we did a few errands, and then take us back to the camp.  Little did we think that the 800 birr we were to pay would also buy us a life-time of entertainment.  Over employment is a common feature in Ethiopia, and not only did we have a driver, but we also had three assistants (there was only 4 of us).  It seems that when a vehicle is moving in Ethiopia, everyone comes along for the ride.  Or at least they do when there might be girls to be looked at!

The running options offer lots of variety too.

Sululta is surrounded by dirt roads and Eucyplyts forests which are great for training

The locals simply zigzag over and back in single file through the forest, sometimes at speed, sometimes at snails pace.  We tucked in behind one day, unsure whether the athletes appreciated being followed or not, but it wasn't long till the tail of their train started pointing out the obstructions to us with their useful hand signals.  It's amazing how interesting they can make an easy 30 minute run through a small forest.

But when running over and back through the same forest is just too much, Satellite Field provides plenty of variety.  Besides sharing the field with cattle, donkeys, other runners, and, on Sundays, thousands of aspiring football players (note the simple goal posts), it's a perfect place to train.

After running through the forests and across satellite field on several occasions, I was pleasantly surprised by this view on my long Sunday morning run.

The children love being photographed ...

... and then looking at themselves onscreen.

This group of boys in Bekoji were more than happy to do the Usain Bolt arms for me

When I last visited Ethiopia, I noted that it was developing at a very fast rate, and that development seems to be continuing, at least in the city.  True the fields are still being ploughed with oxen and wooden ploughs, but new highways, apartment blocks and shops are springing up across the city.  Sululta has obviously developed considerably in recent years, and none of the camps or hotels were there when I visited in 2010. The track too is new.

Despite the development, the building methods are still primitive, and I didn't see a single metal piece of scaffolding in the whole city.  I'm not sure this scaffolding would pass Irish health and safety regulations

I leave you with this picture of Addis Ababa, taken from the road to Sululta, and urge any of you wishing to taste Ethiopia for yourself, to take the plunge and go on your own African adventure.

You won't regret it!

Guest Blog 5: Shane Benzie from Bekoji in Ethiopia

The latest guest post is an extract from a blog by Shane Benzie, founder of Running Reborn.  Shane has spent some time running with the Ethiopian athletes in Bekoji, made famous by its many Olympic medalists, and the subject of the 2012 film Town of Runners [DVD] From 2014, Shane will be organising running trips to Bekoji.  To register your interest, or to find out more about the services provided by Running Reborn, check out the website.

I’m running at a pace that I know my body will soon refuse to keep up. Two sounds enter my head momentarily blocking out the voice that is screaming at me to stop and just sit down. The first sound is my breathing, we are at altitude, 9200 ft and just when I need it most the air seems unfairly thin. The second sound is the rhythmic footfall of the eight athletes surrounding me; their steps are quick, light and in perfect harmony. Apart from that they are completely silent, not a sound, I can't hear them breath and some are actually smiling. Then with no words spoken or a warning of any kind they move up a gear and I am left behind to watch a blur of colour glide smoothly away.

I am in Bekoji, known as the town of runners, training with some of Ethiopia's best young prospects and the learning curve is as steep as the hills they train on.

Runners from the tiny Ethiopian town of Bekoji have won 8 Olympic gold medals, broken 10 World records and won 32 World championships

I was extremely privileged to accompany Malcolm Anderson co-founder of Running Across Borders  and Kayla Nolan the Executive Director of Girls Gotta Run to Bekoji.  It gave me an amazing opportunity to see first hand how these two organisations work with and support young athletes.  Not only do they help to produce potential world-class athletes, they also help young people to develop as individuals and find careers in industry related jobs such as coaching and sports massage.

To read more about Shane's experience, and what he learned from training with the Ethiopians, click here.