Dear letsrunners,
I have a house in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia through the end of September. I am sharing it with two Ethiopian athletes and we are all training together. I know it’s short notice, but I want to extend an invitation to come and train, for anybody on this board who has the time. We have a spare bedroom and plenty of food available; you just need to cover your airfare (around $2000 from the US/Canada, maybe $1200 or so from Europe), incidentals, and insurance/medical expenses. Space available on a first-come-first-served basis, as well as at our discretion.
The altitude is 8,100 ft (ie, perfect). Generally speaking, we do 10k-marathon type training; 60-90 minutes each morning (sometimes longer), and 30-45 each evening. Wide variety of paces. Of course you can skip some runs or add on, based on your volume needs. Our group has a 1:04 half-marathoner, a 1:11 runner (myself), and a school kid who would probably run about a 16:00 5k. We have a system that accommodates pretty much any caliber of athlete. Also we can work to accommodate people training for shorter distances. I am an experienced coach with USATF and NSCA-CSCS certifications (currently working on my M.Sc.) and I’ll work with you and your home coach to figure out a plan. Finally, if the altitude and mileage don’t totally zap you, I’ll help you arrange some sightseeing around the city.
This house is being rented as part of a charity project called Running Across Borders (RAB). Our mission is to facilitate cultural exchange between long-distance runners in East Africa and people in Europe/America, such that each side benefits from things that the other one can provide. We have filed an application for fiscal sponsorship by International Humanities Center. Although we are more than happy to provide visiting athletes like yourselves with free room and board at this stage, donations from those who are able would be greatly appreciated. For now, however, they are not required.
Please e-mail me (garrettash@gmail.com) if you are interested in taking me up on this. More info about the organization is below, for those who desire it. Best,
Garrett Ash, co-founder
Running Across Borders
Keble College
Parks Road
Oxford, OX1 3PG
UK
+251 0913483699
+447787111792
East African runners have phenomenal ability that is largely attributable to the physical and socio-cultural environment in which they train. However, all but the most elite of them lack the basic resources that are required to develop and succeed as athletes: food, water, accommodation, training equipment, and competitive opportunities.
Europeans and Americans, by contrast, generally have more than ample access to such resources. Both race results and population-wide health trends, however, show that the physical fitness of Caucasian athletes and civilians is inferior to that of their East African counterparts. Research shows, moreover, that the causes of this difference lie mainly if not entirely in differences between the physical and socio-cultural aspects of their respective training environments.
In sum, East Africans have a superior training environment but lack resources, while Europeans/Americans have resources but lack a superior training environment. Our mission is to facilitate interaction and cultural exchange between these two sides, so that each one gains what the other one is lacking.
Our main goals are:
1) Arrange for East African runners to travel to Europe and compete in races that: a) are already recognized as international-level races, b) are contested at sea level, and c) offer cash prizes and/or travel assistance for elite athletes. Thus these races will offer competitive recognition, produce the fastest race times possible, and be self-financing in terms of the travel costs involved.
2) While the East Africans are in Europe, arrange for as much interaction as possible between them and European people who are involved with running and fitness. They will train with local running clubs, give instructional clinics for running and fitness groups, participate in social events, and visit people’s homes for tea, dinner, and/or accommodation.
3) Arrange for European and American people who have an interest in improving their overall health and/or running performance to visit either Ethiopia or Kenya and experience the training environment. Transportation will be arranged so that they can travel to all of the main local training venues, and the Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes will act as guides, coaches, and training partners. When possible, we will arrange for the visitors to have western-standard accommodation within the camps used by the athletes (see goals #4, 5). If it is not possible to arrange western-standard accommodation within the camps, then foreign runners will stay in nearby hotels.
4) Arrange training camps in Ethiopia and Kenya that allow the East African athletes to train optimally, by providing them with: accommodation, food, equipment (see goal #7), and performance analysis consultations.
5) Arrange employment opportunities for the East African athletes, to be pursued during their non-running time. In particular, they can offer services to the visiting foreigners (see goal #3): beyond acting as guides and coaches, they can be chefs, cleaners, and household maintenance and repair specialists. They can also be accountants and managers for the general operation of the training camps.
6) Arrange educational opportunities for the runners. As a start, these opportunities will consist mainly of the chance to learn English as a Second Language (ESL), through material resources and the assistance of visiting foreigners. In the future, subject to funding, we want to recruit and train English teachers from the local Ethiopian and Kenyan communities, to formalize the ESL learning process. Finally, for athletes of appropriate age and academic qualifications, we will help facilitate and support their pursuit of higher education within Ethiopia and, for the most the most academically excellent of them, in foreign countries. While we do not expect to have the funds for the latter type of arrangement ourselves, we will link these athletes with universities that can provide the funds based on the athletes’ academic and athletic merits.
7) Facilitate the donation of used running shoes and clothing from foreigners for use by the Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes.