Gebre Gebremariam, mid-way through the course

Running is universal. That’s part of the reason we created this project. We knew that running was even more fundamentally universal in Ethiopia, and that tying running to sustainable development in Ethiopia had serious potential. And so we created Accelerate Ethiopia. In the end, runners from five continents loped through 13.1 miles of Ethiopia’s Maego Community Welcomemountainous terrain. I wasn’t sure if I was more proud of the international representation, or that over 80 of those running were from within a 15-mile radius of the racecourse in the Gheralta Mountains, or that the big-name/big-heart runners Scott Jurek, Gebre Gebremariam and Yemane Tsegay ran ahead of, next to, and behind the other committed racers and cheered them through the sand and across the finish line. The race lasted three hours. The project took two years. I’m not ready for it to end.

Recovery at Quiha Hospital, MekeleHCP, imagine1day, and I set out to create connections and collisions. The buzz we created around health, education, and a progressive dialog about Ethiopia’s future was intoxicating. Mid-way through the trip our international team of fundraiser runners visited a 7^th century church, Abune Yemata. Accessing the church requires a touch of climbing and a touch of comfort with exposure and heights. My Ethiopian friend Teddy Berhanu was there helping me keep everyone safe—it was our forth time climbing together in Ethiopia. Teddy used to refuse to go climbing and said I was crazy to be a climber. I won him over a few years back and now I tell him he’s as crazy as me. Sane or not, Teddy gets the vertical, and even more so gets the encouragement necessary to bring other people into the vertical. The night following our church ascent our team sat down to talk about how it felt to be in East Africa, running, climbing, and what’s ahead of Ethiopia. When it was Teddy’s turn to weigh in he sighed, took a sip of water, and told it how it was:

“It’s funny,” he said, “When we are climbing, once someone is one meter off the ground everyone starts clapping. They have 20 meters to go, but from the moment their feet can’t touch the ground everyone is telling them what a good job they’re doing. And so they get to the top.” Teddy paused and looked around. We all nodded.  “What if that is what Ethiopia needs too?”

Taking off for Accelerate EthiopiaTwo days later I stood next to Teddy and clapped for the runners as they started, as they strided, as they struggled, and as they finished the race. I’ve been thinking since about how to showcase and amplify the clapping that Teddy suggested.  Here’s the first bit—Yegna, a new radio drama that encourages the possibility of Ethiopia’s girls. See a sneak peak through the music video for its first single below, and get ready to cheer. Accelerate Ethiopia is not over; it's morphing.

On March 2nd over 150 runners will compete in Ethiopia's first ever trail race-- a half marathon in the country's northern mountain highlands. The race is a culmination of a week of shared contribution to the eye health and educational strength of Ethiopia with Himalayan Cataract Project and imagine1day. In the days leading up to the race I will be bringing you profiles of Accelerate Ethiopia--runners (including local superstars, up and coming pros, and our international team of runners who have made Accelerate Ethiopia possible), educators, doctors, and change makers.

Alem Kahsay

Coach Alem is the Accelerate Ethiopia Race Director. Alem grew up in northern Tigray-- not far from the site of the March 2nd race.  He was a member of the Ethiopian National Team in the early 90's and competed in the marathon, for 5 years. These days Alem lives in New York City and works for the New York Road Runners. We spoke this mornign before a training run...

MB: What do you love about running?

AK: "That's my life." He laughs. "That's the easiest question-- it's what I love."

MB: What do you love about Ethiopia?

AK: "The culture--the people. The respect for other people. Ethiopians are generous." Alem smiles raises his eyebrows. "Now it's time to run."

Tom Dente

Tom got involved with Accelerate Ethiopia in September. Back then we asked him to tell us about himself and why he chose to participate in Accelerate Ethiopia. When we asked for three words to describe himself he gave us: Humorous, Creative, Determined. And then he added that saying you have a sense of humor may automatically disqualify the fact that you possibly do.

MB: What excites you most about this trip?

TD: For me, the experience of traveling and learning together, supporting important local work on education and sight, and engaging with legendary and local runners in historic, emerging Ethiopia will be extraordinary.  In addition, being able to form new relationships and contribute to a meaningful experience so that we who are fortunate to be involved in Accelerate Ethiopia can extend our experience into ongoing meaningful action individually and collectively after March 3rd.

MB: Why Accelerate Ethiopia? Why right now?

TD: Accelerate Ethiopia offers an exciting chance for me to combine my professional and personal interests in a meaningful way.   My work involves supporting international NGOs, many of whom have programs in Ethiopia, so I appreciate the incredible efforts that imagine1day and the Himalayan Cataract Project are leading for education and healthcare in local communities.  As a marathoner, I’ve also seen how races and running events can call attention to needs and mobilize for important causes by creating an inclusive platform where all can participate, regardless of ability.  Accelerate Ethiopia’s integration of trip and training, invitation and participation, support and learning represents a unique opportunity for those of us involved to better see – and help others see – the opportunities for Ethiopia differently.  Lastly, the three themes of educating leaders, restoring sight and racing for the future are a personal call to action in Ethiopia and beyond.  These themes resonate with me at several levels, beginning with meeting the important beneficiary goals in Ethiopia.  But in addition to this immediate impact, it suggests other opportunities:  how do we educate all leaders to see future possibilities in Ethiopia and elsewhere?  How do we restore sight dimmed both physically but also by a weary cynicism or a lack of imagination?  How do we all make it easy for others to participate and create the sense of urgency to race to a future that is a leap beyond what we see today?  

Photo by imagine1day

My travel day doubled in time and I had to chart a course through five states to get home. This would normally be a bummer. But this time I had an email with interview questions in my inbox. The first question: Why do you keep going back to Ethiopia? My answer: Because it’s like Kevin Bacon.

Normally I might have said that I go back to Ethiopia because it keeps surprising me. This is, after all true. But I was waiting for my soon the be third cancelled plane of the day and I realized that the real reason I keep going back to Ethiopia is because it’s really like a lot Kevin Bacon, the game.

Let’s back up. I head to Ethiopia this coming Saturday, February 16^th, for Accelerate Ethiopia—the first ever trail race in Ethiopia with the big-promise tagline of “Restoring Sight, Educating Leaders, A Race for the Future.” I helped create that tagline. I also listen to a lot of public radio, and NPR recently aired a story on how Google is integrating the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” into its search engine. I don’t know if Kevin Bacon has ever been to Ethiopia, or stared in a movie about Ethiopia, or has even been in a production in which Ethiopia is mentioned. What I do know is that, like Bacon, Ethiopia is ubiquitous. You just need to know how to see it.

Two years ago a doctor who does sight-restoring, life-restoring, surgeries around the world and a reformed lawyer turned executive director of an organization created around making that sight restoration accessible and affordable got in touch with me. They worked in Ethiopia. I worked in and around Ethiopia. That was reason enough to talk. A few years before that a group of passionate and committed Canadians who were developing some of the best new sustainable education practices in Ethiopia got in touch with me. We had the same reason to talk. Now, with Accelerate Ethiopia, we (the Himalayan Cataract Project, imagine1day and I) are all behind that big-promise. At times it was complicated to get here, but the connection was simple.

I believe that at the root of everything we do there are connections to what we care about. Sometimes we’re lucky and we can see them. Other times we have to search for them. Ethiopia taught me that if something intersects you and you find it interesting then you should go further and see what happens.  Since Ethiopia is the cradle of humanity I always know that ultimately, if a human conceives something, then that something has something to do with Ethiopia. Try it. I bet you’ll get to Ethiopia if you try hard enough, too.

Accelerate Ethiopia starts on February 22^nd. Join us with #AccelerateEthiopia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from February 22- March 3^rd.

Dad (Kris Burhardt) and Majka Day 1 outside of El Bolson Argentina

Today, December 11^th, 2012, I took a hike in the White Mountains and watched yesterday’s thin layer of white turn to clear liquid in the span of an hour. My skis—touring, downhill, classic and skate—are lined up in my garage ready to go. Like most of the northern hemisphere I am ready to ski. But I might be the reason why so few of us are actually getting to shred the gnar.

Here is my confession. I went south to ski and now the north is paying. In my defense, it was for a good cause. My dad turned 70 this year and one of ways we celebrated was to go skiing in Tierra Del Fuego. My father is ski obsessed and it seemed the best way to support him on his birthday was to indulge more obsession. We planned the trip, got tickets, and it all felt normal until I started sweating in my gear room from the heat and humidity of a near 90-degree NH day when packing my winter gear. I’m not a stranger to making the opposite travel/life/outfit choice compared to others around me, but when I hauled my ski bag through the airport terminal surrounded in flip flop clad fellow travellers I felt like a superior idiot—as in that my ego wanted to feel superior but reality showed me I was an idiot.

Ushuaia, Sort of like New HampshireThe skiing happened. It was amazing. We split our time between backcountry, sidecountry, and area skiing. I even had my best day of area skiing ever in my life at Cerro Castor—the ski area whose claim to fame is the southernmost in the world. I toured Laderas- Argentina’s soon to be premier sidecountry focused area developed specifically to minimize environmental impact. I won’t get into too many details about the creamy corn, the knee-deep powder even without fresh snow, the backcountry shots my dad effortlessly ripped. That would just get me, and us, in worse trouble. 

Global warming is happening. We see evidence ourselves, through photos, through videos, through what we can and cannot access in the outdoors everyday. I contributed to it with a flight to the southern tip of Argentina, after all. But what if there are also global consequences to switching the seasonal rhythm of our lives just because we can? We live in a time of amazing opportunity in that regard. This year is the first in five that I have not spent a majority of my November in Africa. And I feel the effect when I am instead in Janet Wilkenson and Majka Burhardt out getting any winter they can, Crawford Notch, NHnorthern New Hampshire’s 4:11 pm darkness. I’m not saying I’ll never do it again, but maybe I’m saying that honoring the reality of the landscape we are in becomes all the more important when it is so easy to leave it. Maybe that’s where I have gone wrong and where I need to set things right so that all of the landscapes waiting and aching for winter can finally get that big dump.

Here’s my honor: You—you amazing hills and mountains of my new New England home. Please surrender to winter. Join the other mountains of the world that are swirling snow and ice and own your cold, white, wet, darkness. We will all be here to enjoy and celebrate you.* I promise.

*We might, might, have to leave when winter gives way to the black flies, but that’s really neither here nor there.