Marathon: You Can Do It

I was reading Haile Gebreselassie interview on spike magazine and the great man was asked,

Why have Ethiopians been so consistently successful in distance running? His answer was

1. Genes - Haile Gebresellassie, Kenenisa Bekele, and Dibaba sisters were born in Bekoji. A small village in ethiopia with a population of 33,000. With such a small population their is a big chance this guys are related one way or another. See the story on Bekoji, the village of athletes
2. Teff, an Ethiopian food, a rich grain with lots of minerals
3. Poverty, - Ethiopian runners are one of the three wealthiest people in Ethiopia, the others are businessmen and politicians.  In a country of 80 million people, the majority live hand to mouth, and distance running offers the younger generation one of the few ways out.

   Dibaba has built a two story mansion in Bekoji village, the only other is Bekeles’. Motivated by such signs of success, thousands of kids have picked up running.

Tags: Ethiopian Runners, Marathon, Running, Training

I have always thought barefoot running is the most dangerous thing a runner can try (Just look at the bleeding feet of Abebe Bikila who won Gold at while running barefoot at 1960 Olympics).

My thought on barefoot running was changed a little bit when I read the following advice on runners world magazine.

Go Barefoot Once A Week
Strong feet and lower legs, plus flexible ankles, equal fewer injuries. One of the best ways to gain this strength and flexibility is by barefoot running, according to McMillan, because you have to work harder at each toe-off and landing. “Try to do a few barefoot strides or some light jogging equal to between one and three laps of a track once or twice each week,” he says. Level grass works the best.

Source: Runners world UK dot com

I will try running barefoot and see how it goes.

Tags: Bikila, Ethiopian Runners, Inspiring, Marathon, Olympics, Running

It is interesting to know that Bekoji, a small town of farmers and herders in Ethiopian highlands has consistently yielded many of the world’s best distance runners.

Haile Gebresellassie, Kenenisa Bekele, and Dibaba sisters were born in Bekoji. The athletes attended the same primary school, Bekoji Elementary School, trained with the same coach, a Mr. Eshetu who worked until recently as a Physical Education instructor in the school.

Bekoji is located 170 miles (280Km) south of the capital Addis Ababa. According to Ethiopian Goverment census report, Bekoji has a population of 33,000.

The Unique features of Bekoji

1) Thin Air

The town sits on the flank of Volcano nealry 10,000 ft (3,000m) above seal level, making daily life itself a kind of high altitude training.

2) Genetics 

With such a small population (33,000) there is a big chance this people must be all be related one way or another. If they have a common origin, its fair to argue they carry a running gene.

4) Training. 

Children in this region often start training at an early age, covering great distance to fetch water and firewood or to reach the nearest school. Haile Gebresellassie has always recounted how he used to run 10Km to and from school everyday carrying his books, leaving him with an exraordinary stamina.

5) Rich Neighbours 

Ethiopian runners are some of the wealthiest people in Ethiopia.  In a country of 80 million people, the majority live hand to mouth, and distance running offers the younger generation one of the few ways out.

Dibaba has built a two story mansion in the village, the only other is Bekeles’. Motivated by such signs of success, thousands of kids have picked up running.

Tags: altitude running, Ethiopian Runners, Marathon, Running

Yesterday’s Women Olympics 10,000 meters was a good example why its important to stick with your own pace and not to sprint with the herd. America’s Shelane Flanagan seems to have been the only athlete who followed that advice and was rewarded with a Bronze Medal.

Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba won the women’s 10,000m in a new Olympic record by beating Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse in a thrilling battle in Beijing. The winning time was the second fastest ever!

The charge took off immediately they started, It was Lornah Kiplagat, formerly of Kenya, who took control early on dragging the runners through the first kilometre in astonishing three minutes. The majority of the runners paid the price of this high pace, the number of runners in contention was cut to just Abeylegesse and Dibaba with six laps left

British athlete Jo Pavey who slipped off the main group with 11 laps to go told BBC Sport “I’m disappointed, you feel like you’ve made a fool of yourself,” “It was such a blistering pace.”

Progression Running Tactic

America’s Shelane Flanagan did what her fellow county woman Deena Kostar did four years ago in Athens Olympic Marathon: Run a conservative race!

The advantage of starting slow is you save your energy for the last stage. As the bell rung for the final lap I saw only two strong athletes, Shelane and Dibaba. If there was an extra lap, Shelane might have caught up with Silver medal winner, Turkey’s Abeylegesse.

Tags: Athletes, Beijing Olympics, Ethiopian Runners, Kenyan Runners, Olympics

I was reading the morning paper when I read the entertaining story of Ethiopian’s, Bekele and Tune who were involved in a heated exchange as to who deserves a place in  Ethiopia Olympic squad.

The Bekele here is not the famous Kenenisa Bekele but  Bezunesh Bekele a female marathon runner. While Dire Tune was the female winner of this year’s Boston Marathon.

The two faced off in a physical confrontation before their early morning training session. No serious injuries were reported from the incident.

The athletes are both vying for the last selection place in Ethiopia’s marathon squad.

With a few weeks remaining to the start of Beijing Summer Olympics the Ethiopian Athletics  Federation is yet to decide between the two girls. With the clock ticking, the girls are getting anxious and am not surprised they lost their cool.

To Ethiopia  Athletics Federation, Shame On You!

Tags: bejing Olympics, Ethiopian Runners, marathon runners, Running, summer games