November 26, 2006
Hacks outperform athletes at Great Ethiopian Run
Another November, another great Great Ethiopian Run.
More than 25,000 people ran through the Addis Ababa this morning on the 10k road race organised by Haile Gebrselassie and British marathon star Richard Nerurkar. They were joined by another few thousand street children and some athletics greats including Ireland's Sonia O' Sullivan and Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj.
But the most impressive performances of the day came from the world's journalists gathered for the event:
- There was the Chinese film crew who turned up early to get the best view of the start of the run. They hauled their equipment up to the roof of Meskel Square's Siemens building - then pulled up the ladder behind them, ignoring the increasingly angry appeals from the crowd of photographers building up on the floor below them.
- There was the celebrity Japanese photographer who waited until all the other snappers had politely taken up their position in the media box at the finish line - then strolled in front of the media barriers and squatted down, blocking the view.
- Best of all was the British BBC presenter who took part in the race, interviewing people as he went. He finished pretty quickly but looked absolutely exhausted, almost pained as he crossed the line. After a few minutes getting his breath back he jogged back a hundred metres or so, and finished the race again, this time cheering, with both arms raised in victory. Let's be generous and assume the camera didn't get him first time around.
Posted by aheavens at November 26, 2006 2:59 PM
Comments
Andrew,
According to some websites based in the USA the run turned into a political demonstration against the EPRDF. Is there truth to this?
Please let us know!
Checkout Ethiopianreview.com
Posted by: marcos at November 26, 2006 5:25 PM
Hi - I spent the whole race in Meskel Square, watching the start and the finish. There were no protests there that I could see. I heard later that some groups of runners did chant pro-CUD/anti-Meles chants and waved V-signs. But it was only a few groups of runners. There is no way you could say "the run turned into a political demonstration against the EPRDF". Most reports said it was much much more subdued than last year.
Posted by: Andrew at November 27, 2006 4:37 PM
Andrew,
What you stated is not good news to the likes of Ethiopianreview.com, not that I support extremism.
Rgds
Tazabeo
Posted by: Tazabeo at November 27, 2006 11:08 PM
Testing - It seems to be fine now Abaye
Posted by: Andrew at November 29, 2006 7:01 PM
The run was great,I wasn't there but someone told me that the race was really good and fun.I don't think there will be protest aginst the government.any one who thinks like this is dumb ass only ok.We ethiopians like the government,and we wish the best.the only thing we need is to work hard with our country and make difference.
Please don't write this kind of stupid staff again.
Posted by: Amanuel at December 29, 2006 6:39 PM
there was protest againiste the government in some part of the run it was obvios and there is nothing to hide
Posted by: wbe at March 22, 2007 8:20 PM
I have run 5 times in the GER including this year's 2007 (missing only the 1st and the 3rd). Yes, there was political reflection in the uproars of the participants in 2005, 2006 and 2007. That is, after the vote rigging by the Woyane party. Almost all of the participants (over 95%) are from Addis Ababa and Addis Ababans are against Meles's party. This, no one can deny. Even though the Ethiopian TV does not broadcast the sounds of the tournament and a closer shot of participants, I myself have video records of the people running and praising CUD, cursing Meles. God Bless Ethiopia, and the rest of Africa.
Posted by: Abbe at November 28, 2007 2:51 PM
Hello,
having shot a short low-budget documentary about running in Ethiopia i am currently in search of photos and additional video footage for my film.
After searching the web I came across this Blog. A chapter of my documentary is about the Great Ethiopian Run, we actually shot an interview with Richard Neruka who organises these races. Unfortunatly there was no race in the three weeks I spent in Addis Abeba. I found some articles on running in Ethiopia on your homepage and am interested in knowing if you have any pictures or video footage I could use for my documentary.
What I am looking for are pictures and videofootage of vast crowds of people. If there are any other pictures you would like to share, please share them! This is a small documentary and I´m afraid I can´t pay for any pictures. All I can promise you is a mentioning in the credits and a copy of the DVD.
In case you can´t help me i would be very thankful for any contacts of the right direction!
Best regards, Nick
Posted by: Nick at June 9, 2008 2:55 PM