Many of the embassy staff participated in the Great Run. Photo: Abate Damte- This is a fantastic experience, ambassador Kjemprud says. - I ran together with Etiopian runners who describe the Great Ethiopian Run as their Olympic Games. This is the biggest race in Africa, a celebration for the people and definitely great for Ethiopian image building.
In addition to ambassador Kjemprud ten staff from the embassy also took part in the run.
Koreni Jelila and Tilahun Regassa won the women’s and men’s races respectively, both with new course records of 28.36 and 33.03 minutes.
The Norwegian race Knarvikmila is cooperating with the Great Ethiopian Run, and Ethiopian Runners and Director of the Great Ethiopian Run, Ermias Ayele, visited during Knarvikmila earlier this year. Part of the cooperation is also charity-based and Harald Nygård, member of the Knarvikmila Board, visited Addis Ababa for the Great Ethiopian Run this weekend to hand over charity funds collected under Knarvikmila.
In total over 500.000 ETB was collected for charity from the Great Ethiopian Run this year. The Great Ethiopian Run is an independent NGO operating in Ethiopia since 2001 with the mission of staging mass-participation athletic competitions in Ethiopia.
34.000 people participated in the 2009 Great Ethiopian Run with start and finish at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa.