Running at YaYa

Godebo and Bereket are missing out on summer cross-country conditioning, so we promised their coach we would do our best to find opportunities for them to run. After all, Ethiopia and Kenya consistently produce some of the best runners in the world, so we hoped we could figure out where they train and perhaps have Bereket and Godebo join them.

The first two times we tried this, rain got in the way, but today we got it right. Our driver took us to YaYa Village, a resort just outside Addis Ababa that was built by the most famous Ethiopian runner in history, Haile Gebreselassie. After he retired from running, he became a businessman and built several resorts around Ethiopia, and one of them, YaYa Village, has a running track used by local runners to train.

We arrived around 7 a.m. and already there were about a dozen runners training. Godebo and Bereket jumped right in, with Godebo even joining a group of male runners for much of his workout -- and they set a pretty fast pace. The elevation (about 8,000 feet) provided extra challenge, but both kids got a good workout and really enjoyed running with some very talented athletes. Meanwhile, Jeff walked the track, I did run-walk intervals and Noel found a decent weight room for his workout, so we all appreciated the chance to move our bodies and sweat a bit.

After the workout, we got a private tour of the small Haile museum from the YaYa Village manager, and then we had a nice brunch at the restaurant before heading back to Addis. It felt great to move our bodies and get out of the bustle of the city.