Biggest Race In Africa

I like that I am able to blog this title. There is something sweet about watching soemthing grow.

The sixth running of The Great Ethiopia Run is coming up this Sunday. Haile has been able to gather an impressive list of celebrity including Hichem El Guerrouj, Sonia O'Sullivan as well as 2004 Olympic heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft (I am not sure I knew of her before she singed up for the Great Ethiopia Run) and a strong Kenyan contingent. Kudos to Haile who continues to nurture somthing that was an idea just 6 years ago and which has grown into an international fixture.

As for the race the pundits at IAAF seem to favor Ibrahim Jeylan in the men’s 10K and the-runner-not-the-singer Buzinesh Bekele. I personally would like to see a Kenyan win it to give it an International flavor and to attract more runners from the continent.

Look for next year's run to be in September as part of Ethiopian millennium celebration and it should be a huge event. Let see if we can get some ex-marathon runners P. Diddy and Oprah to do a 10K in the homeland. Hey, if it were up to me I would let Oprah win it for just showing up. Who would you like to see run in Addis next year?