The 2023 Sofi Malt Great Ethiopian Run International 10km takes place on Sunday 19th November 2023.
Here are some highlights from the 2022 race.
Click for race result and for the race report.
We will be giving regular updates and latest news via our social media channels:
Twitter: @greatethrun
Instagram: @greatethrun
YouTube: @GreatEthiopianRunET
Click here to see details of how you can win a ticket to our Gala Dinner on Saturday 18th November 2023.
If you have further questions you can contact us via our office phone number +251 116 635 757 or email address info@ethiopianrun.org
Every child has the right to learn!
A child’s right to education entails the right to learn. Yet too many children in Ethiopia are deprived of a chance for education and learning for various reasons, including poverty, conflict, drought, and seasonal flooding.
Without quality education, children face considerable barriers to employment and earning potential later in life. They are more likely to suffer adverse health outcomes and less likely to participate in decisions that affect them – threatening their ability to shape a better future for themselves and their societies. This is particularly important for girls. In fact, children of educated mothers are twice as likely to survive past the age of five. And according to UNESCO, a single year of primary education has shown to increase a girl’s wages later in life by 20 percent. Significantly, the longer a girl stays in school, the less likely she is to be married before the age of 18 and have children during her teenage years.
Currently, Ethiopia hosts the largest number of out-of-school children in East and Southern Africa. According to the MoE/UNICEF joint study on the Situations of Out-of-school Children, about 6 million children in pre-primary, 4.5 million children in primary, and 2.7 million children in lower secondary schools were out of school as of December 2020. Moreover, according to this study, about 3 million children in primary and half a million children in lower secondary were in school but at risk of dropping out, requiring concerted and coordinated multi-sectoral efforts and programming to keep them in school and learning. Worse, conflicts and drought in Ethiopia have pushed many children out of school.
That’s why this year, UNICEF is partnering with the Great Ethiopian Run to promote every child’s right to an education. UNICEF is a key partner for the Government of Ethiopia working towards the provision of equitable and inclusive access to quality education so that no child is left behind.
This year, the Great Ethiopian run also coincides with World Children’s Day, a global day of action for children, by children, marking the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – the global document that guarantees a child’s right to an education, as well as many other important rights. This year on World Children’s Day, which is planned to be celebrated with the theme of ‘a better future for every child’, it’s more important than ever that we listen to children in Ethiopia and their demand to go to school, to stay in school, and to learn for their futures.
When you participate in the Great Ethiopian Run, on World Children’s Day, on 20 November, Ethiopian children will stand up for a more equal, inclusive education. What will you do?
Our international 10km is a very special running experience. The race is for runners of all levels. At the front end, it attracts an impressive field of elite runners, but its main purpose has always been to encourage mass participation running among local residents. The event also ranks as one of the world’s best 10km road races for international participants.
Go Green 2022-23 Plan
ACTION 1: WE WILL MINIMISE CARBON EMISSIONS
We are promoting “3km of walking per day” to get us all to think more about walking in place of making short car journeys.
We encourage participants living in close proximity (3km radius) to race venue to walk to and back from race venue on race day.
We are also encouraging our participants to use public transport and shared car transport for arriving at and returning from the race.
We will deploy electric cars to lead the elite race.
ACTION 2: WE WILL RECYCLE WHEREVER POSSIBLE
As in the past year’s race, we have used recyclable (eco-friendly) materials in the production of our race t-shirts & goody bags. We have continued our partnership with PETCO to collect and recycle all plastic bottles and other rubbish consumed and produced on race day.
ACTION 3: WE WILL ENCOURAGE DISPOSAL OF RUBBISH
Rubbish bins will be placed along the race course every 250m.
We’ll also put more portable toilets on race course
ACTION 4: WE WILL USE LESS PLASTIC
This year we are using a lighter water bottle for participants to make it easier for recycling. Our goody bag is also made of a non-plastic material which can be reused for shopping by participants.
ACTION 5: WE WILL USE LESS PAPER
We no longer use paper for registering participants. All registration has been done electronically.
Participants also receive their race magazine electronically in place of printed magazines.
We use more e-posters, e-fliers, e-invites
Re-use scrap papers for internal communication purposes
We put a disclaimer: “think about the environment before you print this email” on all our electronic communications as a reminder to our stakeholders.
ACTION 6: WE WILL WORK TO CREATE AWARENESS ABOUT ENVIRONMENT
Putting Go Green logo on every promotional materials
Scheduled (weekly/monthly) posts on social media about environment and GER’s Go Green 5 strands
Run social media campaigns to Teach/Train/Encourage people not to throw rubbish in their day to day activities
We invite all our participants and stakeholders to join us in this campaign and to contribute positively to the sustainability of our environment.
Great Ethiopian Run, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been using its flagship event, the Great Ethiopian Run 10km International, to support people in need in our community. Our official “Running for a Cause” fundraising campaign serves as the platform to collect donations. Last year we have raised over 1.6 million birr which made the total fund raised in the last five years to over 7.1 Million birr. This year, we have set a fundraising target of 1 Million Birr. Great Ethiopian Run has supported financially and promoted the work of different organizations working with vulnerable children, women and the elderly.
2022 Beneficiaries and Fundraising Target
Every year, two or three charitable organizations benefit from this campaign. In 2022, three beneficiaries are selected:
This year’s target money to be raised is 1 million birr.
Please join our charity campaign. Make the race special and leave a legacy behind. Click here to join!
Volunteers play crucial role in staging our races. At the International 10km as many as 500 volunteers work to make sure everyone has the best experience on race day.
We work with different volunteer groups coming from Rotaract Clubs in Addis, Addis Ababa University, YMCA, Red Cross and other individuals who would like to contribute to the successful delivery of the race.
If you are a volunteer and want to participate please contact us through Dagim@ethiopianrun.org.
Please include: your contact information, background (area of expertise) & experience as a volunteer.
Week 6
Athlete Haile’s – Respected advice
My main advice at this point is: start your training now! It doesn’t matter how you train. I run in the forest and also train in the gym. For you, it may be different. But whether it’s running or gym training, whether it’s morning or evening, what counts is a good routine. And for this you need discipline! And one final thing: if you’re new to training, start gently!
Training suggestion: Walk for 20-30 minutes every other day.
Week 5
HAILE – Respected advice
Last week I said: start your training gently. Now my advice is: build up gradually. In other words, step by step. I always say: don’t rush training! It takes time to build fitness. Remember what I said last week: routine and discipline are everything!
Training suggestion: Walk 10 minutes – jog 2 minutes – walk 5 minutes – jog 2 minutes – walk 5 minutes
Do the session above twice this week. The third session should be a 20-30 minute walk.
Week 4
HAILE – Respected advice
This week, let me advise something a bit different. We call it interval training. The idea is: you push hard and then have a short
recovery, and then you repeat this. This is a great way of increasing your fitness. It’s also a nice change from just running at one pace.
Training suggestion:
Session 1: Walk 5minutes – jog 1 minute – walk 1 minute (repeat 5x) – walk 5 minutes
Session 2: Walk 5 minutes – – jog 5 minutes – walk 5 minutes – jog 5 minutes – walk 5 minutes
Session 3: repeat session 1
Session 4: Walk 10 minutes – jog 4 minutes – walk 2 minutes – – jog 4 minutes – walk 2 minutes
Week 3
HAILE – Respected advice
Practice running uphill! You can do this on a treadmill in a gym by changing the gradient. It’s even better if you can run up hills outside. Find a good hill, which is not too steep and with a good running surface. Run up it (for about a minute) and then walk down. Repeat this six times. Hard work – but great for your fitness!
Training suggestion:
Session 1: Walk 5 minutes – jog 2 minutes – rest – hill session (as above) – walk 10 minutes
Session 2: Walk 3 minutes – – jog 3 minutes – (repeat 4 times) – walk 5 minutes
Session 3: repeat session 1
Session 4: Walk 3 minutes – – jog 5 minutes – (repeat 3 times) – walk 5 minutes
Week 2
HAILE – Respected advice
This is the final week of hard training – leaving it until next week will be too late. So this week test yourself! As a test, you could try timing yourself over 2km. Then have a short recovery. Then run another 2km followed by another short recovery. One final bit of advice: eat well and stay healthy!
Training suggestion:
Session 1: Walk 5 minutes – test yourself over 2km (and repeat, as above) – walk 5 minutes
Session 2: Walk 3 minutes – – jog 3 minutes – (repeat 4 times) – walk 5 minutes
Session 3: Walk 5 minutes – jog 1 minute – walk 1 minute (repeat 8x) – walk 5 minutes
Session 4: Walk 10 minutes – – jog 10 minutes – (repeat 3 times)
Final week
HAILE – Respected advice
This week my advice is: don’t do too much! So: keep training, but gentle training is now better than hard training! Think about the race. Yes, lots of participants! – and they will help you get around. Also, you need energy and determination. Check you know the course, and don’t start too fast!
Training suggestion:
Session 1: Walk 2 minutes – jog 8 minutes – walk 2 minutes – jog 8 minutes – walk 2 minutes
Session 2: Walk 10 minutes – jog 4 minutes – walk 2 minutes – (repeat 3 times) – walk 2 minutes
Results
The race results for each category in the event (elites, ambassadors, charity runners and chipped runners) will be available one hour after the race on our event website
Securing your place in the run
Our standard entry system for residents of Ethiopia opens well ahead of the event. Once these places are filled, we offer a limited number of charity places for those willing to support our official fundraising campaign ‘Running for a Cause’.
Discounts on race t-shirts
In line with standard policy across all races we organize, there are no discounts on registration fees for race entry fees.
How to collect your t-shirt?
Once you are registered to participate in the 10km, please make sure you keep your receipt in the right place. The distribution of race packs and t-shirts for Ethiopia residents takes place at the annual Sport Expo.
Race course
The race course starts and finishes at Meskel Square. A map of the race course is available on our website and in the official race magazine.
Training for the race
Great Ethiopian Run has a membership programme which offers a range of benefits including training sessions for the 10km and guaranteed race places.