The height of athletic excellence

Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, is a bustling and noisy urban sprawl and one of the most populated cities on the African continent. Nearly three and a half million people live here. The capital belies the meaning of its name, Addis Ababa, ‘the little flower’ – for it is a city teeming with people, with traffic, with noise, with life – an African capital alive in vibrant colour and vitality.

 

More than 7,500ft above sea level, (Carrauntoohil is less than half this), the city’s altitude and location, on an elevated grassland plateau makes it warm in daytime, cool at night and notable for a thinness of air that can leave you breathless at times. So, hardly the place then to embark on a long distance race, you might think.

It was precisely for that reason, however, that three Clare women – Deirdre Carmody from Kilkee, Mary Clancy from Gort Road, Ennis and Sondra O’Grady from Clarecastle touched down in Addis Ababa last month, to join participants from more than 25 countries at The Great Ethiopia Run, a 10k event, is the largest road race of its kind in Africa.

A veteran of more than 50 marathon and long-distance runs over the years, mum of four Deirdre, who runs Hayes Supermarket in Kilkee with her husband Séan, says she was thrilled to get the chance to visit one of the homes of long-distance running.
Established about a decade ago, the Great Ethiopian Run is testimony to one of the country’s best known figures, the charismatic Haile Gebreselassie, who is as revered by his people today as he was when he dominated long distance running in the 1990s. In a sparkling career, he won multiple world championship titles, including Olympic gold in both 1996 and 2000.

The race has grown into a huge spectacle and with close to 40,000 runners of all standards lining out for an event that brought traffic in the city to a standstill, the 11th anniversary race attracted the biggest field of competitors yet.

Deirdre, Sondra and Mary traveled to Ethiopia with a party of over 30 other Irish runners, the trip being the culmination of weeks and months of sponsored fundraising to support the work of Irish development agency Self Help Africa.
A week-long expedition that included pre- and post-run activities and sight-seeing around the capital, the trip also allowed the Self Help Africa group to spend a number of days traveling the countryside to communities where the charity has under a range of rural projects running for close on 30 years.

An Irish organisation established in the aftermath of the Ethiopian famine that claimed the lives of more than a million people and was brought to the attention of the world by Bob Geldof’s Band Aid and Live Aid appeals, Self Help Africa set out to look for long term answers to the problems of hunger and poverty that blighted so much of Africa.

The organisation found the answer to these problems in the land, specifically on the small-scale farms that, to this day, sustain life and support up to 80% of the population of many African countries – Ethiopia included.

Self Help Africa focused initially on providing the technical support and assistance to small-holder farmers, so that they could grow more and earn more from their land. In the years since then its’ programmes have evolved and now look to supporting producer groups, cooperatives and farmers unions to improving access for growers to markets for their produce. It also supports rural communities to have access to credit, so that they might have the opportunity to borrow funds to develop small income-generating activities.

It is perhaps no surprise that, at home, Self Help Africa has found its strongest base of support amongst rural communities, specifically amongst farming families, who have been backers of the organisation since its earliest days. Self Help Africa is the chosen charity of the Irish Farmers Association.

Recalling the trip, Deirdre Carmody spoke of seeing evidence of the charity’s impact on the small farmers, who were earning more because they had the support of a cooperative behind them; the family who had built a better home with money they had earned because they were growing more and different crops; and the enterprising women, who used small loans to invest in everything from livestock to rear and sell, beehives to produce honey and sewing machines that were being used to make and sell clothing in their communities.
These interactions, amongst traditional round straw-roofed huts (tukuls), was presented as a snap-shot of what Self Help could do and of what people in rural parts of Ethiopia were managing with just a little bit of outside help.

“I had never been to Africa before and it was a fantastic opportunity and a fantastic experience for me,” said Deirdre.

“I use my running to see the world and I have also gained so many friends from meeting new people at races.

“The race itself was a real experience and one that I was very pleased to have been a part of, but the real highlight of the trip was when we got out into the country side and got to meet local people and spend some time with them.

“I’m just delighted that I traveled with this group of people and had these experiences and would heartily recommend it to others if they wanted to do something really memorable in 2013,” she added.

Deirdre Carmody received huge support from the entire Kilkee community, where a number of fundraising initiatives were organised to assist her.
Mary Clancy and Sondra O’Grady, who work together at Ennis Lifts, were supported by the company and colleagues as well as people from the wider community.

To find out more about the work of Self Help Africa visit www.selfhelpafrica.org.