All set for Great Ethiopian Run

Great Ethiopia Run

From left: Richard Nerurcar the events moderator interviews Uganda's Rodgers Kibet and Dan Kibet, Kenyans Shadrack Koech and Cornelius Kemboi during a pre-race press conference for the 2021 Total Energies Great Ethiopia Run International 10km road race on January 21, 2021 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Photo credit: Pool

What you need to know:

  • Also in action will be 25,000 participants who will be lining up to run either for fun or chase new personal best times
  • The hunt for glory has also seen Eritreans join the list of those who will be going for top honours alongside neighbours Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda
  • The winners in both categories will go home Sh228,000 richer with the second-placed athlete pocketing Sh68,000 while the third-placed will get Sh27,000

In Addis Ababa

Elite athletes will Sunday take to the streets of Addis Ababa to battle for honours in 2021 Total Energies Great Ethiopian Run International 10km road race. 

Also in action will be 25,000 participants who will be lining up to run either for fun or chase new personal best times. 

The hunt for glory has also seen Eritreans join the list of those who will be going for top honours alongside neighbours Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

Kenya will be represented by Cornelius Kemboi and Shadrack Koech who will be seeking to beat a strong field of local athletes. 

The elite men’s race will start at 7.52am, followed by women's race four minutes later with the finish line at Meskel Square.

In the women category, eyes will be on Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who won the 2019 edition and is chasing a second title. 

The winners in both categories will go home Sh228,000 richer with the second-placed athlete pocketing Sh68,000 while the third-placed will get Sh27,000. Top 10 finishers will also be awarded while every participant will receive a finishers medal. 

The first wave of participants will be wearing green t-shirts followed by those wearing yellow t-shirts with the last wave of red setting off at 8:18am. 

The race will be staged in a series of ‘wave’ starts to allow for social distancing among participants and recording of temperatures before the race starts.

There will also be sanitisers at the start and finish lines and all participants will be required to wear masks at the start and finish line.

In support of the Ethiopian government initiatives to address the issues of climate change, the Great Ethiopia Run is promoting a go-green campaign in all the races under the umbrella planned for 2022.

“Our campaign has five strands and over the coming months we will be implementing an action plan with the twin goal of working for the good of our environment and and fostering a greater awareness about the importance of green issues,” explained Dagmawit Amare the general manager of the Great Ethiopian race.

In an earlier interview, Ethiopia athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie said that a race without Kenyans or Ugandans competing against Ethiopians is not interesting. 

“We have been inviting Kenya, Uganda and now Eritrea to this event and it has always been good to see how they compete and they make the race interesting. Even in the big marathon races, the two countries make that race to be yearned for and this is the way to go in terms of sports,” said Gebrselassie.