Run to Ethiopia

Most of the athletes and coaches I have met lately agree, that the best place to enhance your running results is to join the high altitude running camps. Many recommended ones in Ethiopia and Kenya. No wonder, just check who is winning marathons, braking world records or winning Olympic medals with best times. Yes, mostly the Ethiopians and Kenyans are. Just small fact check of world records of marathon 2008 - 2019 (for both men and women), recognized by International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), make you wonder whether these nations are the quickest ones on the planet.

The "fastest names" worth knowing are: Brigit Kosgei - Kenyan, Haile Gebrselassie - Ethiopian (a.k.a. the greatest distance runner in history), Kenenisa Bekele - Ethiopian and Eliud Kipchoge - Kenyan. The latter is lately mentioned all over the news. Thanks to his performance in Vienna (12.10.2019), a new chapter in history of international running was written. Kipchoge said before the race: "Berlin Marathon 2018 was about running a world record (which he did in time of 2:01:39), Vienna is about running and breaking a history like the first man on the moon". Guess what? He did go to the moon. No man before Eliud run the distance of 42km in time less than 2 hours. 1:59:40 to be exact.

Unfortunately, this run appears controversial to IAAF. The international governing body for the sport of athletics that recognizes and manages world records, stands that the run was not carried out under open marathon conditions and it featured a dense rotation of professional pacesetters. In cosequence, IAAF refused to consider Kipchoge's time result as a new world record. 

I am not the one to judge but one thing is certain: that is fast running! There has been a lot of research made to discover how one can perform that quick and I will leave it to professionals to understand and explain the complex interplay between factors like: genetics, physiology, nutrition, coaching, mental and emotional preparedness of athletes. However, what I understand: the good training is the key to any physical success. Gaining high aerobic capacity will help you run longer, faster, better. So how to help your heart and lungs get more oxygen to muscles? One of the answers is to train in high altitude areas.

I went to Ethiopia this year, to Yaya Athletics Village. It is a high altitude running camp (2700m above sea level), located nearby Addis Ababa and owned by retired Haile Gebrselassie (owner of 27 world running records, who broke 61 Ethiopian national running records). The venue offers training plans that lie behind Ethiopia's running success stories, it is a place where you can talk to recognized experts on the subject and where you can meet world's best distance athletes e.g. Mo Farah (most decorated athlete in British athletics history), Haile himself or coaches e.g. Gary Lough.

In Yaya, I was really lucky enough to observe for 2 weeks the group of 4 athletes being trained by coach Harald Fritz from Trisutto.com. 

Who is Harald? What is Trisutto? Well, hold my beer please and let me give you few hints! Harald Fritz is one of Austria's most accomplished long distance running and triathlon coaches. He is based in Vienna but you can also find him training athletes in Dubai and here, in Yaya Village. Trisutto.com was founded by world renowned coaches Brett Sutton, Robbe Haywood, Susie Lanley and it delivers on-line coaching, camps and training plans. Trisutto is "responsible" for mentoring some triathlon sport's icons including Nicola Spirig (Olympic gold and silver), Daniela Ryf (numerous Ironman World Champion and record holder) or four-time Kona (Ironman World Championship) winner Chrissie Wellington. I urge you to browse through their websites to get the full picture how inspiring and complex triathlon is. Managing swim, run and cycling during one race requires extreme focus, persistence and preparation. 

Yaya Athletics Village is a place like no other. It is where you can truly concentrate on your training, admire the nature and become humble. You literally can turn back on modernity as internet connection is often poor but if you have a roof over your head, food on your plate, cup of bunna (Ethiopian strong coffee) in the morning, running track around the corner and extraordinary landscape around you...do you really need a internet that much every day? Well, I leave the answer to you. 

Have a look at the images below and see by yourself how the surroundings of Yaya can make you feel free, how they help you leave in the moment, recharge your inner batteries. While being there, you need to remember though that Ethiopia has made tremendous development gains in education, health and food security but, unfortunately, still remains one of the poorest countries in the world where e.g. school children lack of pencils, runners - proper running shoes. Therefore, I encourage you, or at least to spread the word around, that while preparing to your trip to Ethiopia, take school materials, clothes, running shoes (in good condition) with you and donate personally or contact coach Harald, who visits Ethiopia couple times a year and he will advise you how to make sure your donation reaches places where it should. Unfortunately, the local post is not always trustworthy and the things you wish to give might not reach the recipient at all.

Having observed coach Harald and his athletes (Alex - Swiss, Bartek - Polish, Nada - American, Stefan - Austrian) training in Yaya in Ethiopia, I could notice that, despite the fatigue, sometimes attitude sickness and tough lessons of humility (imagine that there local children run faster then you without any effort!), they have created a "running family". I am very happy to have been part of that gang and you can't find a better place to create one. 

Enjoy!