The Great Ethiopian Run!
on Tara's Ethiopian Adventure (Ethiopia), 24/Nov/2009 10:46, 34 days ago
I didn’t do it. I wish I had. Most of my friends in VSO did it as did as well as about 30,000 other people! I did at least get a chance to see it and for about 2 minutes (100m) I guess I could argue I was a part of it as I had to run with the crowd in order to cross the road. It was an incredible atmosphere. Everyone who was registered for the run wore a green T-shirt and so all you could see for miles was a sea of green winding its way through Addis. At the end of the race everyone who was registered (i.e. was wearing their green t-shirt) got channelled through the finishing line and was awarded a medal. I want one of those!! Some of my friends ran. Not an easy feat as much of it is up steep hills (someone tried to suggest to me the other day that 80% of it is uphill but that seems to defy the laws of gravity as it starts and finishes in the same place), it is very hot, there are lots of people in your way and it is of course at altitude. More of my friends walked the Great Run. I felt sorry for one volunteer who had completed the race but could not be given her medal as she was not wearing her T-shirt as it was locked in the VSO Program Office. In contrast another volunteer who was late for the start decided to join it on route only to find himself funnelled through the finishing line and being awarded a medal about 500m later! Although it was possible to‘cheat’ and join the race at any given point it was an incredibly organised event (particularly for Ethiopia) and it was lovely seeing half the city pedestrianised for a few hours to support the event.  So having told you how amazing it was... what was my excuse for not partaking in such an event? A very poor one, I assure you! I am ashamed to say that when the e-mails came round asking if we wanted to be registered for the event I looked up the date and saw it was on a Thursday. I didn’t feel it would be appropriate to take a day off work just to go on a run. Only when it was too late did I realise I had looked up the 22ndof October and not the 22ndof November. I am determined to do the next Great Run and ...as I have a year to train... to do it properly and RUN the Great Ethiopian Run rather than walk it. This will be quite a challenge for me as I really hate running but I am in the country of runners so I think it would be wrong not to. My colleagues have been trying to get me to go jogging with them since day one so this should be a good excuse to start. I think for the time being I may try and get my fitness back by doing the‘Devina Workout Video’ (that Al kindly downloaded onto my External Hard Drive) in the privacy of my own home as my lack of fitness at the moment is too embarrassing to be displayed in public, but by this time next year I hope to be jogging with the best of them (or at least some way behind!). As I hate running so much I think am going to have to collect a lot of sponsorship money to force me to keep my word but I’ll badger you for that nearer the time!  Finally while we are on the topic of‘jogging’ or‘running’ I would like to share with you a very funny conversation I had in my first week here. First I will share it from my perspective (what I thought I heard) and then from Solomon’s perspective... T= TaraS= Solomon How I thought the conversation went... S: Do you like to joke?T: YesS: Would you like to hear [a] joke?T: Yes, go on...S: Why don’t you come with us tomorrow morning?T: Huh? Is that it? I don’t get it?S: Would you like to come with us tomorrow morning?T: I really don’t get it? Why is that funny?S: ? From Solomon’s Perspective... S: Do you like to jog?T: YesS: Would you like to here jog? [i.e. would you like to jog here?]T: Yes, go on...S: Why don’t you come with us tomorrow morning?T: Huh? Is that it? I don’t get it?S: Would you like to come with us tomorrow morning?T: I really don’t get it? Why is that funny?S: ? Hopefully by November 2010 I will like to both JOKE andJOG!