Thriving partnership promises to uplift sport in Kenya, Ethiopia

Moses Tanui

Two-time Boston Marathon champion Moses Tanui (left), Ethiopia’s Tourism Minister Ambassador Nassise Chali (third left), Haile Gebrselassie partly hidden and the Olympics marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir during the awarding ceremony after the Great Ethiopian Run International 10km road race on November 20, 2022. The minister said that the two countries (Ethiopia and Kenya) will benefit immensely from the partnership in terms of sports tourism.

Photo credit: Pool

What you need to know:

  • Ethiopia’s former ambassador to Kenya, Meles Alem, was guest of honour in 2022 Eldoret City Marathon. Race director, Tanui said organisers will introduce a wheelchair race, and the Paralympics category as one way of bringing everyone on board.
  • The Great Ethiopian Run is a company which organises various races spread across the year in Ethiopia.

The partnership between Eldoret City Marathon and the Great Ethiopian Run promises to open new frontiers for both countries by way of sports tourism.

The Great Ethiopian Run is the brain child of Ethiopian athletics legend Haile Gebreslassie, while the Eldoret City Marathon was initiated by two-time Boston Marathon champion Moses Tanui.

Under the partnership, Ethiopian runners Desene Hailu Bikila (men’s category) and Meseret Hirea (women’s category) will compete in this year’s edition of the Eldoret City Marathon by invitation.

The two athletes won titles in 2022 Bokoji Road Race in central Ethiopia, and will compete on full sponsorship by Eldoret City Marathon.

Likewise, Emilly Chebet Kipchumba and Victor Kipchir Rotich who won races in 2022 Eldoret City Marathon will compete in the Great Bokoji Run in May this year.

Bokoji is to Ethiopian athletics what Iten is to the sport in Kenya. Bokoji is home to Ethiopia’s Athletics Federation President Derartu Tulu, and legendary runners Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba, Genzebe Dibaba, among others.

Tanui and Gebreslassie met in Addis Ababa last November during the Great Ethiopian International 10km Road race and agreed to work together to take the sport to the next level in collaboration with the ministry of tourism from both countries.

Athletes from Kenya, Uganda and Eritrea competed in the Great Ethiopian International 10km Road race as organisers seek to have more African countries participate.

In an exclusive interview with Nation Sport, Ethiopia’s Tourism Minister, Ambassador Nassise Chali, said it was time the two countries, which are athletics giant, team up to market themselves through sport to grow stronger.

“We are attached to long distance running which has made Ethiopia marketable across the world. People love running and we want to grow sports tourism by inviting both domestic and international tourists to explore what we have here,” she said.

“Athletes are our biggest ambassadors, and they have marketed our country just the way Kenyan athletes have done to their country. We are happy because the Great Ethiopian Run, which has been there for the last 22 years, is partnering with Eldoret City Marathon. It is an opportunity to deepen the relationship between the two great countries,” she said.

She said the Great Ethiopian Run has transcended athletics, becoming a festival which every Ethiopian looks forward to, and hoped the two races will promote tourism in the two countries, thereby strengthening ties between the two countries.

“We want to bring people here to run and explore the culture and to also visit tourist attractions in the region and I believe that will also be done in neighbouring Kenya. We want to grow business through sport,” she added.

Gebreslassie said: “We competed with Tanui in our time, and that was real competition. Indeed without the two African countries in an athletics competition, it becomes boring. In races, people are often interested in knowing which Kenyan is competing against which Ethiopian, and this has always made the races more interesting.”

“We want to have more athletes travelling to Kenya to compete and more Kenyan athletes gracing our races across the year. This will strengthen the bond that we already have. I will travel to Eldoret to see for myself the talented athletes battling it out in the race,” Gebreslassie, who visited Iten in 2020 and regretted why he didn’t train in the town in his running days, said.

The partnership will focus on the Great Bokoji race. Many of the country’s athletes made their name in the race before shifting to Addis Ababa and are now back in the town to encourage upcoming runners.

“My village is about 45 kilometres from Bokoji, which is where a majority of Ethiopia’s long and middle distance athletes originate. It resembles Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County and Iten in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

To market the town’s potential, we started the Great Bokoji race.

“Very few African athletes are often invited to races in Europe but if you have a race in Ethiopia or in Kenya, more than 300 new athletes will compete and will get opportunities of signing up for new managers. That is what we want in future and the partnership will give us guidance as we plan to make it big,” he added.

Tanui said the two races have the potential of creating opportunities for young athletes.

“When we started the Eldoret City Marathon, sports tourism was in my mind, then the Great Ethiopian Run came in to partner with us and this became a reality. We are still growing but in the future, we shall make the race bigger. We are happy with the partnership.

“We want to also incorporate ministries of sports, foreign affairs and tourism in both countries in one way or another,” said Tanui.

Richard Nerurkar, a former track and field athlete from Great Britain and a member of the planning committee of the Great Ethiopian Run said: “We have been inviting top athletes from Kenya as guests. In 2022, we had Olympics marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir.

We always feel honoured to be in the company of such great athletes. The partnership between the two races is a good opportunity for the two countries to improve tourism through sport,” said Nerurkar.

In April last year, officials from the Great Ethiopian Run, Yetnayet Mekuria and Muluemebet Bahiru, attended Eldoret City Marathon for bench-marking before the partnership was signed.

Ethiopia’s former ambassador to Kenya, Meles Alem, was guest of honour in 2022 Eldoret City Marathon. Race director, Tanui said organisers will introduce a wheelchair race, and the Paralympics category as one way of bringing everyone on board.

The Great Ethiopian Run is a company which organises various races spread across the year in Ethiopia.

They are Hawassa Half Marathon held in January, Women 5km race held in March, Europe Day Children Race held in May, Bokoji Great Run which is held in May, and Entoto Park Predator Run which is held every month in Addis Ababa.

The Great Ethiopian 10km International race completes the calendar in November.