Canadian Running – September-October 2019

Girls Gotta Run

Foundation

Canadian and Ethiopian female runners find

common ground through the power of running

DESTINATION

BEKOJI,

ETHIOPIA

PARTICIPANTS 210+ women and girls; 7 running teams

PARTNERS Nike and Toronto Community Housing

Bekoji 100-mile Relay

By Jennifer Lau

support and encouragement I received. At

the last moment, Christmas Eve to be exact,

my mother expressed interest in joining me

for the Bekoji 100, so off we went together.

In the days prior to the Bekoji 100-mile

relay, we spent time meeting the teachers,

coaches and connecting the girls and their

mothers. The ggrf Scholarship Program

also provides tools and opportunities for

the girls’ mothers, such as accounting skills

and savings start-up funds to help break

cyclical poverty. Each year, the program

reviews applications and considers candi-

dates who come from the lowest-income

sit uations and have the desire to participate

in a running team.

Our first morning in Bekoji, we joined the

girls in their early morning running practice.

Last year I volunteered as a mentor in the

Lane 6 running mentorship program driven

by Canadian Running in partnership of Nike

and Toronto Community Housing, to help

inspire the next generation of track athletes

through a weekly running mentorship

program for youth 7–18 from low-income

households.

The effect of this experience left me with

a desire to get involved with an interna-

tional organization founded on similar goals

and values. I later spent six weeks raising

awareness and sharing the stories of the

girls in Bekoji, challenged my community

to running contests and conducted a silent

auction thanks to friends and supporters of

the cause. I exceeded my fundraising goal

and could not be more thankful for all the

T

he Girls Gotta Run Foundation is an
international community of devoted
board members, generous donors, volun-
teers and advocates who help to provide the
tools and resources needed by impoverished
young Ethiopian women.
These individuals and groups help young
women create better future opportunities and
break barriers, such as childhood marriage,
lack of education and work skills.
The mission of ggrf is to empower a
new generation of female leaders that include
over 210 women and girls and seven running
teams, as well as train Ethiopian girls to
become professional runners.
In January, I participated in the first ever
100-mile Ultra Relay organized by and
for the ggrf Athletic Scholars in Bekoji,
Ethiopia.
Bekoji is a small town and the running
mecca of Ethiopia. In the last 20 years, it has
produced runners who have won 16 Olympic
medals.
Each participant in the 100-mile relay
sponsored two girls for the ggrf scholar-
ship program and their families. The gross
n a t ion a l i nc ome p e r c apit a i s $ 4 0 0 a nd ne a rly
40 per cent of the population lives below the
international poverty line of $1.25/day.

16 Canadian Running September & October 2019, Volume 12, Issue 6

Jas

on

Su

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great strides