Ron and I just came back from an amazing trip to Ethiopia where we also met with Richard Nerurkar, the elite British runner and organiser of the Great Ethiopian Run. We discussed the possibility of a few Serpies coming to run this international 10k race. Richard said that he might be able to arrange for us to meet with Haile Gebrselassie after the race. Who would not be interested in that!

We came back very impressed with the beauty of the countryside and the people, the extraordinary culture but also shocked by the poverty and lack of treatment for very preventable and treatable diseases. You could make a big difference in people’s lives by visiting the country and spending your money. I am supporting a specific project to eradicate a preventable foot disease and ask you to help me with that. More on that later.

Date of race: 22nd November
Place: Addis Adaba, Ethiopia
Length: 10k, undulating and at 2,400m altitude, not really pb material but an experience of a lifetime: http://www.ethiopianrun.org/default.aspx

Trip options:
You will book your own flights and hotels. We will make recommendations for hotels and give you details on parties, sights to see etc. You will have support in Addis (Richard, his wife Gail, Grethe and Owen) and we will help you organise the trip from London. There is a 3 hour time difference (+3) between London and Addis

1) Weekend for race only – take only 2 days off work – about £700-800
Leaving London Thursday evening 19th November at 9pm, arriving in Addis on Friday morning on overnight flight with Ethiopian Airlines.
Friday: arrival and acclimatisation in Addis
Saturday 21st November: visit the Mercato, other sites in Addis, Serpie special pasta party
Sunday 22nd November: race and post-race get together with Haile Gebrselassie
Monday 23rd November: return to London

2) Experience some of the amazing highlands of Ethiopia and run the race – take 7 days off work, about £1000 – £1200
Leave London on evening flight with Ethiopian Airline on Thursday, 12th November at 9pm, arrival in Addis on Friday morning. Spend the day in Addis

Saturday morning fly to Lalibela (internal flight) and trek three days on the North Wollo Plateau organised by TESFA (http://www.community-tourism-ethiopia.com/). This is an amazing experience walking in the most beautiful country side; experience the Ethiopian culture up close while giving back to the community.

Visit Lalibela and the rock hewn churches on Wednesday (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ethiopia/lalibela.htm) and stay at the Seven Olives Hotel – 1 night

On Thursday, fly from Lalibela to Bahir Dar, visit the Monasteries on Lake Tana and chill out at Kuriftu Spa (http://www.kurifturesortspa.com/file/tana.html) – 2 nights

Fly back to Addis on Saturday for the Serpie Pasta Party and race on Sunday with post-race get together with Haile Gebrselassie. Return to London on Monday, 23rd November

3) Experience Ethiopia and stay for 2-3 weeks
Leave with the group as above on 12th November and spend the first week leading up to the race together. After the race visit Southern Ethiopia, the rich wildlife of the Rift Valley, Harare and other astonishing sites.

Here is a link to the pictures from our trip to wet your appetite: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25986687@N06/sets/

In order for you to take part in this amazing trip, we ask you to support a project that is very close to Dr Gail Davey, Associate Professor at the School of Public Health at
Addis Ababa University and Richard Nerurkar’s wife. Gail is dedicating a lot of time and energy to the treatment and eradication of Mossy Foot, a terrible but preventable and treatable disease of the feet. We ask you to raise £300 for research, education and treatment of Mossy Foot and to bring a bag of good shoes (trainers, children shoes, town shoes with no heels) to Ethiopia.
More information on Mossy Foot:
you-tube site (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrFMi-OCXaA)
UK website (http://www.mossyfootuk.com/) and
justgiving site (www.justgiving.com/mossyfootuk)

Please let me know if you are interested in coming on the Serpie trip to the Great Ethiopian Run, what option of the trip you are thinking of doing and contact me with any questions.

Beate
beate@serpentine.org.uk