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January 15, 2011

In Formation Like Canada Geese

Posted by kriosconsulting under Dan Zemper, Jacob Wheeler, Run Across Ethiopia, Running | Tags: , , , , , , |
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POST FROM JACOB WHEELER via the Glen Arbor Sun

Original Post from Day 6 – January 13th

Though the Run Across Ethiopia harriers finished yesterday’s 30-mile run with their bodies intact and their spirits high, strategic holes emerged during the Day 5 performance. The runners failed to stay in a pack and some legged out the final miles as rugged individuals. As a result, they didn’t recognize immediately when a Team TESFA Ethiopian runner nearly pulled up lame.

Fast forward to this morning on the team bus leaving Ziway for Day 6, another tough 30-miler. Coach Dan Zemper — a late but very important addition to the run — held court with an allegorical story about how Canadian geese fly faster in a tight V formation because they remain in a pack, draft behind one another, and never let a single goose fall behind.

The runners took Zemper’s words to heart, remained in a pack today, and finished strong despite a vicious midday sun that beat through a cloudless sky. Mercifully, today was the last of four consecutive 30-mile days. The Run Across Ethiopia team has now completed 168 miles since Sunday, putting them 67 percent of the way to Yirgachefe.

To return to our website, please click this link, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 15, 2011

Sugar Daddy Blog from Ethiopia

Posted by kriosconsulting under Coffee, Culture, Nigel Willerton, Run Across Ethiopia, Running | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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POST FROM NIGEL WILLERTON

Saturday 15th January 2011

Our exertions during the previous five days where we ground out a 28-mile and then four consecutive 30-mile runs allowed the Run Across Ethiopia team a relatively easy seventh day on the road. We ran our shortest distance yet with a ‘mere’15-mile, 24 KM effort. It took us just over 3 hours to complete.

Spirits were very high after the luxury of both a lie-in and a full breakfast at our hotel at Lake Lagano which did not consist of hard-boiled eggs, PBJ sandwiches and, the crime of all crimes, black coffee with out sugar!! The pain of the last six days was almost forgotten.

The 15 miles almost took us to our lodging at Aragash. The RAE team’s cumulative mileage in a week is now 183 miles or 294 KM and that equates to exactly a marathon a day. As we close in on our destination of Afursa Waru, we are starting to see a marked increase in the poverty level of the local people in the villages we pass. It reinforces the teams understanding of the desparate needs in the communities and the positive impact we all hope and believe the Run Across Ethiopia can have.

The villagers themselves though remain as happy and as welcoming as ever in every community we pass shouting encouragement and the obvious question puzzling them  “Where you going?” they cry, “Jirge Chefe” we respond whereupon they look puzzled for a moment and then grin and shout “Very Good, Very Good!” It is great fun to just be a part of this great experience.

However, the run certainly still has its challenges for us as runners. Despite our strong efforts eating into the schedule and reducing the final distance left, the balance of the run will be extremely hilly. We actually started today with a near 2-mile or 3KM ascent. We also still have to work on our teamwork even more strongly ensuring we give each other full support. It can be great fun running with a significant crowd of locals, young and old, many of whom join us often for one, two or even three miles but that sometimes makes it tough to all stay together. It does of course also make the experience complete as you see the joy on the faces of those who just want to be part of the fun that is RAE.

Finally, I will finish by confirming the teams arrival at the fabulous Aragosh Lodge in the Ethiopian Highlands. This is a sprawling hotel where we are staying in bungalows with 4-5 people sharing a three-room open space. I am staying with Norman, Abera, Ichigu and Jacob.  The lodge has its own coffee plantation and the area is awash with wildlife including monkeys and hyenas. It’s certainly luxurious in comparison to some of our prior accommodations but I have to admit that best of all, it is run by a German family so everything like lights and showers actually work!!  (Here’s a video from journalist Jacob Wheeler.)

I would conclude that sadly for myself, we are nearing the end of our epic run but I have hope in my heart that the bigger and more important journey in delivering education for hundreds if not thousands of deserving Ethiopian children is just beginning.

To go back to our website click here, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 14, 2011

Day 06 Hawassa and Real Food

Posted by kriosconsulting under Children, Chris Treter, Culture, Hans Voss, Music, Run Across Ethiopia, Running, Seth & May, Timothy Young
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POST BY TIMOTHY YOUNG

Friday January 14th, 2011

On day six that long straight-as-an-arrow piece of asphalt that’s been pointing the way through the Ethiopian plains to Jirge Chefe (Editor’s note:  We’ve found at least four different spellings of this town in official documents and maps.  Early on we settled on “Yirgacheffe” as the official version we’d use.  Though the running team is now immersed in the culture, so we’ll trust their judgment.) has given way to some curves, rolling hills and lush green vegetation. The good news for Hans Voss, Chris Treter and myself is that our loved ones, along with Seth and May and the film crew, just left Addis Ababa and are driving our way. We should see them in about 5 hours. We have a lot in store for everyone over the next few days.

Thanks to some quick organizing by our Tesfa Foundation support team we have  a dinner planned at a small hotel on Hawassa Lake. I just came from there where I booked some rooms for the family visitors. I have no doubt my kids will love it since within a few minutes of arriving I was feeding monkeys out of my hand. Many of them had clinging babies. Too sweet. So the team will have dinner on the Lakeshore tonight and possibly even get to go out on paddleboats and mingle with hippos….at a safe distance of course. Then tonight, Seth and May have a concert planned with other local musicians. I’ve been told by the organizer that they are already expecting close to 1000 people and the plan to do radio spots this afternoon, so the crowd will likely grow.

After running three consecutive 30 mile days the runners have put some miles in the bank so we can taper off a bit in the coming days and we begin to climb in elevation. Hopefully that will allow them to stay up a little later tonight to see the concert. Then after tomorrow’s run, we have arranged to have a goat roasted over a fire on the shore of Hawassa Lake. This a traditional Ethiopian BBQ and should be a fun and rewarding way to bond as a team and prepare them for the final stretch. I met the goat moments ago and thanked her for tomorrow’s contribution to our meal. I don’t think she understood my English, but my intent was pure.

Crowds gather at each of our roadside water stops. It happens like this; Bus pulls over at pre-determined mileage mark. We prepare water bottles and snacks. It may look like there’s no one for miles around, but as soon as we out of the bus to await the runners, people come pouring out of grass and mud huts off in the distance and at times what seems like out of thin air. They are always welcoming and return a handshake and some nice “hellos” or “Salam.” Our Nurse, Mamush explains what we are doing and the runners arrive and depart to applause, often followed for up a  mile or more by some the kids and adults.

P.S. More photos to come. My camera was lost on the trip here and I just found out yesterday it awaiting my departure in Addis. In the meantime, Chris Treter gave me his camera yesterday since he’s not using it.

Go back to our website by clicking here, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 14, 2011

Crank the Tunes, Lift the Mood

Posted by kriosconsulting under Dan Zemper, Jacob Wheeler, Music, Run Across Ethiopia, Running, Timothy Young
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POST BY JACOB WHEELER – VIA THE GLEN ARBOR SUN

Friday January 14th, 2011 (Original post from Thursday Glen Arbor Sun)

Today, the Run Across Ethiopia harriers and local Tesfa team runners faced a third straight 30-mile run through the Rift Valley to Lake Lagano. The team that awoke this morning before 5 a.m. hobbled, limped, crawled and pranced their way to the bus for a predawn breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and coffee — some of their toes bound in tape and sore ankles and knees wrapped, their stomachs victims of the local cuisine, and looking battle-weary like soldiers returning from the front.

But once aboard the bus, the music cranked, and the mood shifted to anticipation of feet on the ground. The pranks, the jokes, the light trash-talking resumed. Nigel the Brit’s early morning karaoke acts, Chris Treter’s tank-like running stride, Chris Girrbach’s feet that seem to attract sharp objects as if they were magnets. This is the kind of self-deprecation that carries one through hell intact … or a 250-mile, 10-day run through Ethiopia. And a little adversity ain’t gonna stop these cats.

The gang tried something new today: music from the support van’s speakers to pick up the runners whenever they felt down. First, Beyonce, Eminem and icons of American hip-hop; then this journalist was asked to produce a thumb drive of reggae, Latino music and (Hans’ Voss request) Rammstein German techno music.

I sat out the 30-mile run today. After jumping into the fray and running 8 miles, then 10, then 17, then limping toward 12 yesterday — without training for any sort of marathon — my left knee felt as though it had been stabbed by a knife. So I played DJ, assisted Coach Dan Zemper and nurse Mamoush in preparing the water and food sustenance breaks for the runners, and shot videos.

The team has now run 138 miles (20+28+30+30+30), which means we’re over halfway to 250! One more 30-miler tomorrow, and the hardest stretch will be overcome — though the low mileage altitude climb is yet to come.

Return to our website here, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 13, 2011

Crowds of Children Running On Lush Grass

Posted by kriosconsulting under Children, Claire Everhart, Matt Desmond, Run Across Ethiopia, Running, Water | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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POST BY CLAIRE EVERHART

Thursday January 13, 2011

We just completed our 5th day of running, also our 3rd of four 30 mile days. It was brutal but we made it! Believe it or not, the first 20 miles go by fairly quickly, it’s the last 10 that seem to take forever.

Long Road

We had several moral boosts as crowds of children in every village we passed through ran with us, some for over a mile, gliding over jagged rocks and thorny bushes in bare feet as though they were running on lush grass. Their skinny figures, tattered clothing and obvious lack of dental care does not stop the chorus of laughter that surrounds us the entire time they’re running.

Many will often grab one of our hands while they run, or say “you! you!” If we say it back they just double over in giggles. Matt Desmond has quite a way with them. He often can get the whole group repeating him in unison, as he shouts team member names or soccer teams. It is quite heartbreaking, however, when they all beg for our empty water bottles. One runner can often be surrounded by 20+ outstretched hands and only one empty water bottle to give out.  (Editors note: ironically, in America discarded water bottles are a nuisance along roadsides and in communities.  In Ethiopia these simple toss-offs are sought after commodities because of the value they have in being refilled with water from community wells. Ethiopia ranks as having some of the worst access to safe drinking water in the world.)

Water Pump

We have all been reminded of how easy it is to take for granted water always coming from the faucet.  Most here don’t even have faucets, and those who do, cannot count on water always coming, we didn’t have any water for several hours where we’re staying tonight, what a harsh difference from the states.

(Claire is a recent graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and ran on their cross country team. She is an intern with Global Village Collection, one of our sponsoring partners in Delaware, Ohio.)

If you’d like to return to our website just click this link, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 12, 2011

Ethiopians, Brits, and Beers

Posted by kriosconsulting under Chris Girrbach, Matt Desmond, Nigel Willerton, Run Across Ethiopia, Running
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POST BY NIGEL WILLERTON

Wednesday January 12, 2011 – Day 04

Beer for the crew

And finally, today was day two of four consecutive 30 milers as we Run Across Ethiopia. We are now right out in the African Savanna. The temperature is rising and the people from the villages we run through sometimes join us for a few hundred yards or even a few miles. Luckily Matthew Desmond, Chris Girrbach and myself can still find cold beer at the end of each day :-) Day 4 – Another 30 miles down as we ran from Alem Tema to Ziway in 5 hours 53 mins. That was 30 mins faster than the 30 miler the day before. In four days we have now run 108 miles or 175 KM in 21 hrs 21 minutes. We are rolling (or at least crawling :-) )

 

 

January 12, 2011

Matt Desmond on the Team

Posted by kriosconsulting under Children, Matt Desmond, Run Across Ethiopia, Running | Tags: , , , , , , |
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POST BY MATT DESMOND

Wednesday January 12, 2011   DAY 04 of the Run

Matt's Sore Feet

Day 4 of the run, 108 miles down, 108,000 mind-blowing strides, approximately! The Run Across Ethiopia team gelled today over the 30 mile run with an earlier start and extremely efficient support along the run: water every half hour, food every hour, no lolligagging. That added up to an earlier end time and about an hour and a half less in the hot afternoon sun.

We made big waves in the small communities we passed through, including many consisting of round, mud-brick, thatch roofed houses. Folks welcomed us even more heartily today. Adults and children joined us en masse as we passed by, some for several miles.

The highlight of the day was midway through the run when 60 or so people ran with and behind us, mostly children. A chant erupted from the kids: “Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea!” referencing the English soccer team. Nigel, our Liverpool loving British teammate was none too pleased! Soon, however, we were able to redirect the cheer to honor our visionary leader: “Treter, Treter, Treter!” The moment was well deserved for Chris and provided a timely pick-me-up for us all.

To return to our website please click this link, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 11, 2011

Each sight is new – An Adventure, a Leap Into Hope

Posted by kriosconsulting under Anne Stanton, Children, Culture, Run Across Ethiopia, Running, Schools | Tags: , , , , , , |
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POST BY ANNE STANTON

Anne created these posts on her Facebook page on Monday and Tuesday. I’ve copied them here.

Monday January 10, 2011  - Run Day Two

On this trip,  I often find myself looking around and seeing things I haven’t seen before; each sight is new– an adventure, a leap into hope. The school we visited has no running water, and the windows are cut out squares in the building. Two small rooms. The crayons are little stubs, and there is just a shelf full of books.

School Children

There are so many kids, about 7 of them, and they draw right on the concrete porch, which gives their art a bit of a serrated look. The bathroom is the kind they call a “shit pit,” where you position your feet on either side of the hole, and, um, squat and pee. The door is corrugated metal. The kids are expected to learn three languages in their little lives–Amharic, the local language, and English. And I mean, they are REALLY expected to learn them because they can’t funciton without the first two, and have to know English for secondary school. Seth and May were a huge hit with the kids. I talked to Chris Treter later about the less than wonderful physical aspects of the school, and he told me that it was better than what you’d see in coffee country further south. “To me it’s a human rights issue.”

We went back into town to eat with the team (no salads, wah! because of the potential to get sick), and then returned to the school. This little guy, maybe 7, attached himself to me and proudly recited to me the names of his body: eye, nose, ear, stoem-ec, foot,” So cute. He just held my arm as we went around the little sunny courtyard. Soon it was time to go, and he followed us all to the bus, and just as we were pulling out, he dived into the bus to grab a plastic bottle (which for some reason has great value), and just about got himself really hurt. But didn’t, thank God. After that, we started passing out empty bottles to kids, who think they are an absoulte treasure.

This is getting so long! But I can’t tell you how interesting everything is. We stayed at a hotel last night that had an Olympic size swimming pool, I kid you not. I joined some of the others after trying to deal with my issue of being seriously over-packed, and there was Jacob Wheeler in a bathing suit, wondering if anyone would dare him to jump off the high dive (despite the pool being closed). And he did. Wearing a very tight bathing suit. Nice party afterward where we met and interviewed Olympic gold medal winners. Mary Moore was so verklempt at meeting Derakatu Tulu, Ethiopia’s first gold medalist female runner, that she had tears rolling down on her cheeks.

Tuesday January 11, 2011  - Run Day Three

THE SNAP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

Today, the team ran 28 miles (amazing), and I ran six (four, then one, then one), and it was hotter than hell. Poor Claire wasn’t feeling well at all and STILL ran 28 miles. As we were running out of town, this little guy in a school uniform broke away from his friends and ran with us, smiling and laughing–he was running fast, and just as I was getting worried about him, he ran up the driveway to his school. It was like that the whole run, little guys joining us, some even barefoot.  (Click the image below to see Jacob Wheeler’s video of a child with a huge backpack pacing the team.)

School child running

A “runner’s bus” follows the runners, and stops every 30 minutes with water, and every hour with some kind of sustenance. Even so, two of the runners “bonked” because they didn’t eat enough food. Every day, there’s a kind of recap meeting where we discuss went right and wrong, and everyone unaniomously agreed we need an earlier start because of the heat. I volunteered to help make pbj sandwiches in the morning (I start at 5:15 a.m.) Of course, time really doesn’t have any great meaning in my book since I am totally screwed up anyway; just today I’m finally getting my bearings as far as the clock goes (we are 8 hours ahead of EST in the US).

There were times today when I was the only white person on the bus with eight of the Ethiopians, who were rocking out with the Ethiopian music and chatting, chatting. The runners, of course, are rock hard. Two of the Ethiopian women went ahead of the group (probably frustrated with the pace), and ran all the way into town at which point another Ethiopian had to come and find them. They were kind of “timed-out” today on the bus but will run again tomorrow. Will close with this scene. We finished the run, and were walking to cool down, and we were at this beautiful farm where they harvest tef, and eight or so bulls were tethered together, minded by an 8 year old. A younger man with a pitchfork posed for pictures. (I’ll be sure to post some when I get back.) Anyway, I look over and there’s this man with a whip standing on the road, kind of whipping the air. Snap. WEIRD. I miss you all and will try to write again tomorrow.

If you’d like to return to our website click here, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 11, 2011

PB&J, Eggs, and Blisters

Posted by kriosconsulting under Culture, Running
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BLOG POST FROM TIMOTHY FITZGERALD YOUNG

Tuesday January 11th, 2011  (DAY THREE of RAE)

On quiet cool morning in Mojo our team gathered outside to share a meal PB&J, hard boiled eggs, pineapple and bananas. With only four mugs, coffee was chugged in or to give the next teammate a turn. At 5:30 in the morning it was a bit earlier than most of our bodies wanted to be up, but all were appreciative of the runners that arose and hour  earlier to get the meal ready for the road weary. The goal was to get on the road even earlier this time. Mission accomplished. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise over the Rift Valley as Coach Dan and Manush, our Ethiopian nurse, tended to some blisters before the team headed off on day three of this adventure.

To return to our website click this link, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 10, 2011

Debre Zeit into the Great Rift Valley

Posted by kriosconsulting under Culture, Run Across Ethiopia, Running, The Land
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Monday January 10, 2011

POST BY CHRIS TRETER

Day 2: 28 miles – Debre Zeit into the Great Rift Valley

Today marked the second day of the Run Across Ethiopia. After an extremely busy first day that saw us getting off to a late start due to the logistics of transporting our whole team of over 30 people to the launch, while accomodating a surprising extra 25 well wishers, the team decided to start earlier on day 2 to minimize our exposure to the sun. We thought it best to wait till after sunrise to start jogging as Heinas are known to enjoy the flavor of runners in the night time so we started out at about 7:30 am. The run was much smoother then I thought. The first 15 miles were on the main road from Addis Ababa to Djibouti, a busy thoroughfare where exports and imports make their way between the port and capital. Once we took a right off that road in Mojo and started down the road toward Kenya, things started to be much more rural with far less traffic. That is, minus the one random Chinese cement factory (Chinese are heavily investing in Ethiopia) in the middle of nowhere that filled the road with smoke for a good five minutes of jogging. We covered our mouths and noses with our shirt to avoid sucking in the thick toxic smoke.
On the Run
(No, this is not our rendition of Abbey Road.)
At about mile 20 we continued a slight descent into the Rift Valley, a broad expanse filled with lakes and vast pastures dotted with lumber trees. camel, sheep, cattle, donkeys with a human per herd dot the terrain. Large circular bails of Teff, a nutritious grain that has been around since before 1000 BC, line the traditional homes along the road.  The Rift Valley is said to be an expansive valley that runs through parts of Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya where the tectonic plates have split over hundreds of thousands of years forming a valley dotted with lakes. The first lake we spotted was Lake Komo around mile 22 – just at the point to give us a bit of a push to keep going for 6 more miles in the beautiful, but increasingly hot terrain.
Toward the end of the run, Dan Zemper, our coach and owner of Zemper Restorative Therapy in Traverse City, was sure to keep track of signs of dehydration. Luckily we had an amazing support team that monitored our every move from the bus and was there to hand out water each mile. The run ended beside a family who was out collecting their teff. They hung out with us for a bit in a dusty shoulder of the road while we learned some new stretches from our Ethiopian running teammates. We even took the time to take a team photo with them to remember Day 2.
Tomorrow we are running 30 miles and will be sure to enjoy more of this amazing terrain.
To return to our website just click this link.  www.runacrossethiopia.org
 

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