Canadian Running – September-October 2019

We jumped in for warm-up drills and sprints
through the open field and forest. I was a fish
out of water despite being an avid runner
back home and having recently completed
the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half-
Marathon with a sub-two-hour finish.
The girls trained in silence, the sweeping
rhythmic sounds of their synchronized steps
accented by stern instructions from their
coach. At one point I stopped to just take it
all in, in pure amazement of how beautifully
they moved with such power and grace.
The relay involved over 20 international
runners joining forces with the local girls who
run in the program. The race covers 100 miles
from the peak of the Bale Mountains through
the Oromia Region and finishing in Bekoji.
We ran the first 5k all together, shuff ling our
feet as we fought the altitude and very chilly
weather. The “foreigners” ran in groups of
two to four to support each other, while the
local female runners ran solo at speeds that
we could only watch in awe of from the vans.
Although we were unable to communicate
with the girls in their language, we bonded
through a love of running. The local female
runners had never run a relay of this kind
before and pushed themselves at each 5k leg,
some to the point of illness and throwing up
on the side of the road.

“I want to be a

professional

runner to

represent my

country, and I

want to be a

doctor, so that

I can help

decrease the

death rate

of mothers

giving birth.”

—Desta, 17 years old

After the relay, I spoke with some of the

girls about how they were feeling, why they

love running and, more importantly, what

their dreams were for the future.

“I want to be a professional runner to repre-

sent my country, and I want to be a doctor,

so that I can help decrease the death rate

of mothers giving birth,” said 17-year-old

Desta, who celebrated her birthday on the

day of the relay.

Sport is a universal language and transcends

across all cultures and backgrounds. Despite

our differences, we shared the same fears and

excitement as we came together to achieve a

common goal – to set the stage and raise the

bar for future generations of girls in sport by

empowering these female runners.

Jennifer Lau is a trainer at Nike Toronto

and a holistic nutritionist.

runningmagazine.ca Canadian Running 17

great strides