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The 2025 Sofi Malt Lake Hawassa Half Marathon takes place on Sunday 9th February 2025.
To register CLICK HERE
To get the full information about our package CLICK HERE
The 2025 Sofi Malt Lake Hawassa Half Marathon takes place on Sunday 9th February 2025.
The 13th edition of this event will consist of a half-marathon, an 8km and children’s races. The 8km and children’s races start and finish in front of St. Gebriel Church (Smuda Monument) in the centre of Hawassa. The 21km starts in front of Gash Hussein house (Loqe area) and the first part of the half marathon route runs along the lake shore. There are shower, water and entertainment stations along the course. The race will finish in front of St. Gebriel Church (Smuda Monument) in the centre of Hawassa.
Details about registration for both for residents of Ethiopia and non-residents will be announced shortly.
Click for elite race results and for mass race result
If you have further questions please contact us via our office phone number +251 116 635 757 or email address info@ethiopianrun.org
The 2025 Sofi Malt Lake Hawassa Half Marathon takes place in Hawassa on Sunday 9th February 2025, the 13th edition of the race.
For international participants visiting Ethiopia the race is a great experience and can be done as a long weekend in Ethiopia, flying into Addis on the Friday and flying home on Sunday evening. You will stay in a top-quality hotel on the shores of the lake; take part in a series of activities during the weekend; and participate in the race on a scenic and flat course which finishes in the centre of town.
This year we are offering international participants a special 2-night package. For further information please go our online registration page Click here
Polio
Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. Poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours. It can strike people of any age but mainly affects children under five. Polio can be prevented by vaccines, but it is not curable. Unlike most diseases, polio can be eradicated.
PolioPlus
For more than 30 years, Rotary and our partners have driven the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. Our PolioPlus program was the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication by vaccinating children on a massive scale. As a core partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary focuses on advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and awareness-building.
Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.
Polio Today
When Rotary and its partners formed the GPEI in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. Today, we have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent, and just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Because of the efforts of Rotary and its partners, nearly 19 million people who would otherwise have been paralyzed are walking, and more than 1.5 million people are alive who would otherwise have died. The infrastructure we helped build to end polio is also being used to treat and prevent other diseases (including COVID-19) and create lasting impact in other areas of public health.
Challenges
Rotary and our partners have made tremendous progress against polio, but eliminating all cases is going to take even more progress and perseverance. Afghanistan and Pakistan face unique challenges, including political insecurity, highly mobile populations, difficult terrain, and, in some instances, vaccine refusal and misinformation. With sufficient resources, the commitment of national governments, and innovations that improve access to remote areas, we are optimistic that we can eliminate polio.
Ensuring Success
Rotary has committed to raising $50 million per year for polio eradication. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1, for a total commitment of $150 million each year. These funds provide much-needed operational support, medical workers, laboratory equipment, and educational materials. Governments, corporations, and private donors all play a crucial role in funding.
Rotary in Action
More than 1 million Rotary members have donated their time and money to eradicate polio, and every year, hundreds of members work with health workers to vaccinate children in countries affected by polio. Rotary members work with UNICEF and other partners to prepare and distribute informational materials for people in areas that are isolated by conflict, geography, or poverty. They also mobilize to recruit fellow volunteers, assist in transporting the vaccine, and provide other logistical support.
Celebrity Support
Rotary has a growing list of public figures and celebrities who support our fight against polio, including Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; actresses Kristen Bell and Archie Panjabi; actor and wrestling superstar John Cena; supermodel Isabeli Fontana; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu; action-movie star Jackie Chan; actor Donald Sutherland; boxing great Manny Pacquiao; pop star Psy; golf legend Jack Nicklaus; conservationist Jane Goodall; premier violinist Itzhak Perlman; Grammy Award winners A.R. Rahman, Angélique Kidjo, and Ziggy Marley; and peace advocate Queen Noor of Jordan. These ambassadors help Rotary educate the public about the disease and the fight to end polio for good.
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.
