New York Road Runners in Africa

May 1-2, 2010

NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg journeyed to Ethiopia on May 1-2 with NYRR staffers Richard Finn and Chrissy Odalen for the opening of Haile Gebrselassie’s Haile Resort on the shores of Lake Hawassa, about four hours south of Addis Ababa. Wittenberg’s amazing photos and descriptions capture this incredible weekend with the legendary “Geb” and many other luminaries of the sport.

The first weekend in May, an “off” weekend at NYRR, found several of our staffers on the road in Ethiopia. The trip had several purposes. First and most important was to support Haile, arguably the world’s best runner ever and a huge favorite of NYRR for his commitment to his country and our sport well beyond the track and roads. Haile has invested so much in Ethiopia’s economy, and the stunningly beautiful Haile Resort is his most ambitious venture to date. The photos do not even do justice to its beauty, and it will do so much to enrich tourism in the area.

Second was to pay homage to Ethiopia’s other amazing runners—many of our world’s best. Ethiopia is a home of running, and that was evident throughout the weekend.

The trip was also an opportunity to support the Great Ethiopian Run team, something of an Ethiopian version of NYRR, as they worked with Haile to create a race weekend to mark the opening of the hotel.

Also, as is every trip to Ethiopia, this visit was part of a decade-long recruiting effort to get Haile to the ING New York City Marathon! He has been a guest of NYRR for marathon weekend many times, and we hope that this will be the year he runs at the front of the field. In addition, we visited and spent amazing time with other greats such as Tirunesh Dibaba and Sileshi Sihine, who will soon move to the marathon.

Chrissy Odalen, our director of programming and administration for NYRR youth and community services, came with us to discuss possible youth programs with the Great Ethiopian Run team and assess ways that NYRR and our Mighty Metres program can help—especially with a focus on girls. Richard Finn, our director of media relations, joined us as well to learn more about how our PR and communications teams can bring the stories of our great Ethiopian athletes to life for our worldwide viewing audiences.

As a bonus, we were joined throughout the weekend by Kenyan superstar Paul Tergat, arguably the second-greatest male runner ever. Paul and Haile are rivals who are also fast friends and who together lifted the entire sport.

It was an unforgettable visit—the photos can only hint at the overwhelming beauty and spirit of this amazing running country and the experience of a lifetime that we had in our too-brief time there.

We visited three-time Olympic medalist Gete Wami in Addis Ababa—here’s the view of Addis from her home.
A market shot in Addis—I love the colors of Ethiopia. Note the bamboo scaffolding all over Addis.
Gete Wami on her veranda.
Paul Tergat arrived at the Hilton in Addis to a welcome cake, prepared by the Hilton staff.
Former world-class Ethiopian runner Worku Bikila (now also a hotel owner/manager), Paul, and Haile reunited at Worku’s hotel.
Left to right here at a stop en route from Addis to Hawassa are Volker Wagner (Haile’s massage therapist and manager of Tegla Loroupe and other athletes), Haile, Paul, me, and Richard Finn. Our many stops along the way stretched this four-hour trip to eight incredible hours—truly the journey of a lifetime.
Two great ambassadors and visionaries of our sport looked out over the countryside.
Haile is swarmed by fans wherever he goes. Here, he takes a moment to talk with a child—one of many such occasions in his day.
Haile and Paul led us on a visit to a village where we saw how an Ethiopian family lives.
Paul (a father of four, as is Haile) was a magnet for babies. Throughout the trip they were drawn to him, and they clung to him like he was a big teddy bear.
One of many, many gorgeous views from our journey.
We traveled through the Rift Valley—the plains, trees, and cloud formations were like nothing else I’d ever seen.
At last we arrived at the Haile Resort, which took three years and millions of dollars to build. Finishing touches are still being applied.
The hotel sits on the shore of beautiful Lake Hawassa and features gorgeous views like this.
On Saturday, Hawassa was busy as the Every One Races were set up for Sunday morning.
Constantly smiling Haile greeted fans everywhere throughout the weekend.
Haile and Paul gave a thumbs-up to the huge crowd.
Double Olympic gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba wowed the crowd. Her husband, Sileshi Sihine (left), has also won multiple Olympic and World Championship medals.
Sileshi won the fans over as well.
One of the many younger runners!
Paul Tergat and Sileshi Sihine.
Paul (with young fan), Sileshi, and Haile.
The 7K open race was just one of many events on Sunday morning.
There was also a recreational half-marathon, men’s and women’s elite 7Ks, and kids’ races, all starting outside the doors of the Haile Resort.
NYRR’s Chrissy Odalen ran with a child who helped her finish after a calf cramp.
I joined Haile and a representative of Save Our Children to give out boys’ awards.
Huge crowds watched Haile at the awards ceremony.
Race organizer and former elite British distance runner Richard Nerurkar (right) with his wife, Gail, and friend Jerry, the winner of the half-marathon (Gail was the second woman finisher).
Tirunesh with a runner who’d finished the Virgin London Marathon just a week earlier!
Sileshi with the half-marathon winner, who’d just graduated from Williams College.
Tirunesh and Sileshi may be the fastest couple in the world, and they’re certainly one of the nicest.