<h4>Nine years after befriending an Ethiopian refugee in Ireland, Cathal Dennehy headed to Ethiopia &ndash; land of the runners &ndash; and joined in with a few training sessions alongside some of the world's elite.</h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I can&rsquo;t keep up. As I chug across the rolling grasslands of Ethiopia, it takes about 45 seconds before I&rsquo;m painfully aware of my own absolute, overwhelming and slightly mortifying mediocrity.</p>
<p>Up ahead &ndash; close enough to hear my rasping, wheezing breaths but not close enough to ask if I&rsquo;m actually dying &ndash; a horde of high-level distance runners are coasting across the landscape at a pace of 4:50 a mile, or 3:00 per kilometre.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s November 2018, three days since I had my ass politely handed to me by several thousand runners in the Great Ethiopian Run, and I&rsquo;ve come here &ndash; to a village on the very outskirts of Addis Ababa &ndash; to get an extra insight into how these masters of endurance operate.</p>
<p>I&rsquo;ve also come to visit my friend.</p>
<p>Back in 2009, when I was trying &ndash; and failing &ndash; to <em>not</em> be a mediocre distance runner, I got to know an Ethiopian refugee in my home city of Limerick, Ireland. Lebeta Debela had fled his nation the previous year and was a decent if not elite distance runner, one I trained with three times a week. He had very little English at the time, while my Amharic is, ehm, less than fluent (zero words).</p>
<p>But sometimes the universal language of running can transcend that. We&rsquo;d warm up together, try to smash each other in the ensuing session, then high-five at the end of it and do our best to learn more about each other&rsquo;s lives as we cooled down.</p>
<p>He was forced to leave Ireland and return to Ethiopia a year or so later, and as he did so he dreaded the conflict he was returning to at home. We stayed in touch over the years &ndash; the odd phone call and lots of Facebook messages &ndash; and each time we did I noticed the improvement in his English.</p>
<p>When we trained together, he&rsquo;d try his best to tell me what it was like in Ethiopia &ndash; the huge groups of athletes churning out runs, as many as 150 galloping all as one &ndash; and I always figured it was something I had to see to believe.</p>
<p>Late last year, I finally did.</p>
<p>It was a Wednesday morning at 8am when he arrived to my hotel, his uncle driving the car and the two of them explaining to this ignorant tourist &ndash; who had done no actual research &ndash; all about their home city of Addis Ababa.<br /><br /></p>
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Athletes training in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>One of the first things you realise is most Ethiopian runners want to live in Addis Ababa, but no one really wants to train there. It&rsquo;s far too hectic, noisy and filled with traffic for most distance runners to enjoy, so many lower-tier athletes are forced to run back and forth across the steps of Meskel Square to get the miles in &ndash; several hundred on any given evening.</p>
<p>As such, many more elite-level athletes try to live on the outskirts, where city turns to countryside and they can either take a short car journey or run from their door and coast across the serene, green landscape while filling their lungs with thin, crisp air.</p>
<p>Lebeta was one of those athletes, and along the way to his home he pointed out the houses of world-beating athletes who lived nearby: Yomif Kejelcha, Lelisa Desisa, Feyisa Lilesa.</p>
<p>His home was basic but perfectly adequate and the small town, Burayu, was populated with hundreds of runners. We arrived just after 9am and he noted we were late for the group run, so would have to hightail it across the plains to intercept them.</p>
<p>That day, the group would run for an hour at a progressively increasing pace, circling around a 4K loop that everyone seemed to know &ndash; everyone except me.</p>
<p>I soon saw them approaching and immediately peed my shorts (figuratively, of course).</p>
<p>Like a kid on his first day at school, I slotted in at the back and hoped no one would notice as Lebeta joined the pack and explained &ndash; at least I think &ndash; who the wheezing white guy was at the back.</p>
<p>We were going at about 5:30 pace per mile, which I coped with for all of two minutes before slowing to a stop and wondering what I was doing with my life.<br /><br /></p>
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Athletes running in Kella Town</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>On they went, the group of about 40 whittling down with each lap as the pace cranked up. When they came past again, I rejoined the back of the group, and this time my GPS showed they were going faster than five minutes per mile, which, at an altitude of 2,600m/8,500ft, had me burnt alive in less than a minute.</p>
<p>And so I stopped again, jogged around at a (much) more sedate pace, and watched as the group reduced to just three athletes entering the final 10 minutes. By this stage Lebeta had also been burnt off, so he joined me on my jog.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you join in with them again for the last bit?&rdquo; I asked, and he looked at me like I&rsquo;d suggested throwing rocks at them for entertainment.</p>
<p>&ldquo;No, no, <em>never</em> do that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Shame.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Once we&rsquo;d finished, he gave me the rundown of who was in the group &ndash; and I realised that for three or so minutes I&rsquo;d been chasing (in vain) the 2016 Olympic marathon silver medallist Feyisa Lilesa.</p>
<p>In what other sport, I thought, could an average Joe rock up and train with the world&rsquo;s best?&nbsp; And not only that, but receive nothing but handshakes and smiles and nice-to-meet-yous &ndash; this despite me breaking the cardinal rule and joining in again after taking a lap off. For shame.</p>
<p>As we headed back to Lebeta&rsquo;s place he pointed out other runners whizzing by &ndash; there was Ibrahim Jeilan, who out-kicked Mo Farah to win the world 10,000m title in 2011 &ndash; and many others whose names rang a familiar bell.</p>
<p>We decamped to a local restaurant where Lebeta and his uncle ordered (what I think was) beef, a dish that came plonked in the middle of a giant piece of injera, the flatbread made from teff flour that is a staple of Ethiopian cuisine. It was delicious. After an afternoon of sightseeing and a visit to a natural spring in Ambo &ndash; highly recommend this &ndash; Lebeta and his uncle brought me for lunch at their family home, where we met two keen young runners, aged 10 and eight.</p>
<p>I watched later as they joined two of their friends at a local green area and went through a warm-up of jogging, followed by various drills and then several 300m reps on a cross-country loop. The best of them, a 10-year-old girl called Misgana Bekele, won an underage section at the Great Ethiopian Run the previous weekend and, with a name like that, I made sure to note it for the future.<br /><br /></p>
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Young runners in a field in the suburbs of Addis Ababa</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>When the day was done and Lebeta and his uncle dropped me back to the hotel, there were hugs exchanged and promises made that we wouldn&rsquo;t leave it eight years next time, my hosts refusing to accept a single cent towards the cost of our meals or travel.</p>
<p>That, above all, left a lasting impression about Ethiopians, the most hospitable people I&rsquo;ve come across. There was always a warm welcome.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s what I and fellow journalist Weldon Johnson of Letsrun.com received a few days earlier when we tagged along with a group managed by Daan van den Berg of Global Sports Communication. This time, I didn&rsquo;t even attempt to keep up, happy to coast along in the van as the few-dozen-strong men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s groups churned out their 20-mile run.</p>
<p>We were told by Van den Berg to meet at a specific roundabout in Addis Ababa at 5:30am, and sure enough, as we stood there in darkness, a van pulled up filled with athletes.</p>
<p>We drove for about an hour out of the bustling city and when we arrived in Sendafa, the sun was slowly peeking over the horizon. At 6:45am, the group&rsquo;s coach Getaneh Tessema blew a whistle and all runners gathered in a circle, the coach and his assistant Assefa Mezgebu &ndash; best known for winning Olympic 10,000m bronze in 2000 behind Haile Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat &ndash; cracking jokes before they outlined the day&rsquo;s work.<br /><br /></p>
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Head coach Getaneh Tessema (right) and assistant coach Assefa Mezgebu (left) with their training group in Sendafa</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Then off they went, hordes of the world&rsquo;s best, with two-time London Marathon champion Tsegay Kebede leading the way at a steady six minutes per mile.</p>
<p>Over the next two hours, we saw about 300 athletes out there churning on the roads, this being only one of three key areas that runners train in outside Addis Ababa. We even saw a group of Ethiopian race walkers, five of them hurtling by and offering a glimpse into what the future could hold if this nation of runners decides to channel more talent into that event.</p>
<p>When the group run was complete, the athletes downed what remained of their drinks and changed alongside the road &ndash; with men and women separated by about 50 yards &ndash; and then they were back into the van for the drive back to Addis, 20 miles in the legs and the clock yet to strike 10am.</p>
<p>Seeing it all in person, it was hard not to feel lazy, even a tad guilty about the undeniable privilege that many others don&rsquo;t enjoy.<br /><br /></p>
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Athletes training in Sendafa</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>It was, above all, a reminder not so much how hard athletes in Ethiopia work &ndash; back in Ireland I knew several distance runners who trained just as hard, organising their lives around this pursuit with the same obsession &ndash; but it&rsquo;s the sheer volume of those doing it that leaves a lasting impression.</p>
<p>Thousands upon thousands, churning out 100 miles a week or more in places where there are no distractions, where nothing else seems to matter other than trying to keep up a little better today than you did yesterday. Do that and maybe one day you can be one of the men or women left at the front of your group, which means you&rsquo;re not far off the best in the world.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s a place where the attitude rubs off and leaves you all the better for experiencing it. A place where everyone, no matter how fast or slow, is a dreamer.</p>
<hr />
<h3>How to: run in the footsteps of greats in Ethiopia</h3>
<p>One of the most popular training destinations for foreign runners is <strong>Sululta</strong>, a small town outside Addis Ababa which is surrounded by hills and eucalyptus forests and can be reached by private taxi for US $20 (or a lot cheaper if you&rsquo;re able to work out the public bus system, which I did, but only with the help of a local).</p>
<p>A popular choice of residence near Sululta is <strong>Yaya Village</strong>, which is owned by Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie, and running guides are available to show you the ropes of the locality.</p>
<p>Another hotspot for distance runners is <strong>Entoto</strong>, where many groups go hill training. If you&rsquo;re willing to venture further afield, try visiting <strong>Bekoji</strong>, the so-called Town of Runners.</p>
<p>While searching online about various locations and talking to those who&rsquo;ve been there is your best bet for research, you&rsquo;ll likely find most running groups and coaches are extremely open and offer a warm reception to runners who show up without an invite (guilty as charged).</p>

I can’t keep up. As I chug across the rolling grasslands of Ethiopia, it takes about 45 seconds before I’m painfully aware of my own absolute, overwhelming and slightly mortifying mediocrity. 

Running Ethiopia Addis Ababa

Running in the footsteps of greats

<p>There are no more loyal friends in the world than books. They have been a source of pleasure for me, allowed me to understand the world better and helped me grow as a person.</p>
<p>My interest really started after reading some short stories in 2005. I enjoyed what I learned from reading books and decided that I should spend more time in training camp reading books rather than watching TV.</p>
<p>I never read fiction, I prefer motivational and business books and autobiographies. I try to read for one hour every afternoon and then another hour after supper, before bed.</p>
<p>I am a big fan of the writer Stephen R. Covey. I like his books, particularly <em>The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People</em>. His books have taught me so much. They have instilled in me the importance of working hard, treating your profession as seriously as you can and how to live alongside people.<br /><br /></p>
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Eliud Kipchoge in Kenya</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>He has helped explain that there are some people that come into this world with a negative point of view but that this mindset is not necessary. There is no need to become annoyed and it is important to stay calm. When night comes, that day has passed. I try to live my life by not being too annoyed or frustrated.</p>
<p>His books have taught me so many principles, like how to handle and live with people, and how to handle pressure.</p>
<p>Another of my favourite books is <em>Who Moved My Cheese</em> by Dr Spencer Johnson. This book is about change and the fact we live in a changing world and we need to adapt. It is a fascinating book, which I refer back to again and again. I believe it has helped equip me with the skills to handle change. It has become a hugely popular book, which so many people all over the world have embraced.</p>
<p>At the Global Sports Communication training camp in Kaptagat we have set up the Sandy Bodecker Library (named after the late Nike VP of Special Projects and Eliud&rsquo;s good friend) to encourage as many in the camp as possible to read.</p>
<p>Books have helped me so much throughout my career. They have reminded me that sport is a passion, that being a sportsman is a choice and that is needs to be handled in a good and positive way.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><strong>With Steve Landells</strong></p>

There are no more loyal friends in the world than books. They have been a source of pleasure for me, allowed me to understand the world better and helped me grow as a person.

Athlete hobbies Eliud Kipchoge books

My passion for books, by Eliud Kipchoge

<h4><img style="width: 90px; height: 90px; border-radius: 50%; margin-right: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/8a1d4507-5605-49b2-9512-d91eb3b43460.png" alt="Kate Carter" align="left" />Many people view running as a solitary sport, but it is also at the heart of many sociable experiences between family, friends and new acquaintances</h4>
<hr />
<h4 style="text-align: right;"><strong>Kate Carter</strong> <em>(<a href="https://twitter.com/katehelencarter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@katehelencarter</a>)</em></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I love watching children make friends &ndash; they do it so effortlessly. A couple of games in the playground, a few questions on holiday in the swimming pool and they rocket from complete strangers to best friends in minutes. They don&rsquo;t even seem to need to share a language to find some common ground. Alas, I&rsquo;m not sure there&rsquo;s an adult equivalent to the language of play, but if there was a shortlist of suggestions, I&rsquo;d put running right at the top.</p>
<p>I've only been a runner for a handful of years, and yet I can&rsquo;t remember a time when running wasn&rsquo;t just an important part of my identity, but crucial to my social life. Friends from my running club, real life friends whom I met on social media, friends made on the startline or even midway through a race, friends from work or the school run who turn out to be runners too.</p>
<p>When I discovered running &ndash; on maternity leave with my youngest &ndash; I did the 'Couch to 5k' programme and found an incredibly supportive virtual community online to share triumphs and setbacks. That was only seven years ago but I&rsquo;ve gone on to run 13 marathons and countless other races, all supported by &ndash; and often with &ndash; friends.</p>
<blockquote>
<h3 style="text-transform: none; color: #000026;"><strong>" </strong>I once sat in a pub in Prague after a half marathon and met a Russian guy who turned out to be really good friends with a French runner I happened to know via a London parkrun. What are the odds? <strong>"</strong></h3>
</blockquote>
<p>Put two runners together and they do indeed immediately share a common language, one of races or routes recommended, distances preferred, and niggles shared. Often even a friend in common, however unlikely: I once sat in a pub in Prague after a half marathon and met a Russian guy who turned out to be really good friends with a French runner I happened to know via a London parkrun. What are the odds? In the amateur running world, not as implausible as you&rsquo;d think.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s a wonderful paradox that running &ndash; so intensely solitary a sport at times &ndash; is so incredibly sociable. Of course runners can be competitive in groups&nbsp;&ndash; team events or relay races &ndash; but it&rsquo;s rarely a team sport in the traditional sense. But for those of us with an amateur race habit, the very experience of being alone in your own thoughts, battling the mental demons for however-many-miles, is what makes it even more important to have a good old chat afterwards. A release from the self-imposed tension &ndash; and an opportunity to check if that hill at mile four really did morph into Everest halfway up, or if it was just you...</p>
<p>When it comes to training, running with friends makes the time and the miles tick by so much faster. For many, it may even be easier to talk while running than during daunting face-to-face communication. For the shy or underconfident, making eye contact can be difficult, and such situations often avoided &ndash; but chat while running and eye contact is virtually impossible anyway, so the pressure is removed.</p>
<p>There&rsquo;s even a strain of therapy, Dynamic Running Therapy, that utilises this very phenomena. It&rsquo;s amazing the things people tell you &ndash; friends or brand new acquaintances &ndash; when you are side by side matching stride, and when they are slightly too short of breath to bother with the usual conversational filler. A friend once quite casually told me about her disastrous first marriage on a run. I&rsquo;d known her for years and she&rsquo;d literally never mentioned it before.</p>
<p>Habitual runners will already know perfectly well how an easy run can lift their mood, but for the doubters, there&rsquo;s plenty of evidence. Aerobic exercise increases levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine, making it stress-relieving. It boosts endorphins and endocannabinoids, both of which reduce anxiety and perception of pain &ndash; all of which leads to a happier, more relaxed, more friendly you.</p>
<p>Running with friends can also help you run longer, if that&rsquo;s your goal. Studies show that people generally continue 20% longer when they run with someone else than when going it alone, and that the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/34033/jssarticle.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perception of effort is diminished</a></strong></span>. The distraction of chat, or knowledge that you aren&rsquo;t suffering alone in those final hard miles, helps push you on. Hard short efforts &ndash; interval runs &ndash; are better in company too, even if you couldn&rsquo;t spare the lung capacity for a gasp, let alone actual chat. There&rsquo;s a very good reason elite athletes mostly train in groups, pushing each other on, and it&rsquo;s something we can all learn from.</p>
<p>But if running with other people is great, then running to actively help friends achieve their goals is even better. Some of the best running experiences I&rsquo;ve had have been pacing other people. Helping someone achieve a personal best is genuinely as satisfying as getting one yourself &ndash; and having myself been paced to one in a marathon, I can attest that it&rsquo;s an intensely bonding experience, too.</p>
<p>But it doesn&rsquo;t need to be a long distance. The other day, I paced my eldest daughter to her first ever 5km. It was just my club&rsquo;s informal handicap series &ndash; no fancy prizes, no blingy medals, no goody bag &ndash; but it was one of the best runs I&rsquo;ve had in years.</p>
<p>And if you don&rsquo;t think running is sociable, try running 3.1 miles with a 10-year-old who chats non-stop. Lack of conversation is simply not an option.<br /><br /></p>
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<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B1rtRwiHVDc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Kate Carter (@katehelencarter)</a> on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2019-08-27T21:43:07+00:00">Aug 27, 2019 at 2:43pm PDT</time></p>
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Many people view running as a solitary sport, but it can also be at the heart of many sociable experiences between family, friends and new acquaintances

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