Visitors enjoy opportunity to explore local attractions, sample traditional cuisine, and experience Ethiopia’s famed running culture, first-hand, as part of race package
By Pura Vida Correspondent
Last Sunday, the vibrant city of Jimma in southwestern Ethiopia came alive as elite and recreational runners converged for the inaugural Ethio Telecom Great Jimma Run.
The historic event saw recreational athletes from 13 different countries, who have been following the “Ethiopia Discover Classics” circuit, test their abilities in the city which is surrounded by hills, just like Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa which is about 300 kilometres away from Jimma.
The race was both competitive and served as a cultural celebration, aimed at promoting sports tourism in one of Ethiopia’s most attractive and culturally-rich cities.
Jimma, known for its lush greenery and deep-rooted coffee heritage, provided a stunning backdrop for the race and the streets were lined with excited spectators, local dancers and musicians, transforming the event into a festival-like atmosphere.
And by the end of the races, organizers hailed the event as a resounding success, citing the diverse turnout and seamless co-ordination between local authorities and sponsors.
Visitors had the opportunity to explore local attractions, sample traditional cuisine, and experience Ethiopia’s famed running culture first-hand before the race on Sunday.
A visit to the Horizon Coffee Plantations in Katalenja, Kossa, in Jimma, which covers about 1,400 hectares of land, offered an opportunity to have a feel of what the country offers in terms of producing coffee which has also been voted among the best in the world.
This marked the start of a weekend-long festival as on Saturday, the invited guests went for an eight-kilometre hike ending at Abar Jifar II Palace. The palace is the oldest and the best preserved in Jimma.
According to the Great Ethiopian Run Director Dagmawit Amere, sports tourism is a culture that they have introduced in Ethiopia in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and as an organization, they are happy because whenever they go, the community and the administration has always been supportive.
Dagmawit, who is fondly known as “Dagi” by her colleagues, said the Jimma race is part of the Ethiopia Discover Classics series which started last year and includes four regions, which also serves as a catchment for talent discovery.
Other three regions of Hawassa, where there is a half marathon, Bekoji (10km race) and Arba Minch (10km race), complete the list of the classic races.
“This is not only a race, but we want to also promote tourism locally and abroad and we have a programme that starts on Friday before ending on Sunday with a race. We are glad that we have had people travelling with us wherever we go which is a positive note for us as the race organizers,” she said.
She added that they are also trying to learn more from their country and the programme gives an opportunity to not only visitors but also the staff from the Great Ethiopian Run who have never reached those places.
“Sports tourism is gaining traction and has been promoted not long ago but as the Great Ethiopian Run we want to maximize and go into action and that is why anyone travelling with us has a place to visit and learn something. Yesterday we were at a coffee farm, which is one of the largest in Jimma, and that is an exposure to our guests,” said Dagi.
Concerning this year’s Great Ethiopian Run 10km race, plans started last year intending to register up to 55,000 participants with 5,000 already having registered to compete in November.
She said that as one way of celebrating the 25 years since the race was started by Ethiopia’s distance running legend Haile Gebreslassie, more than 25 staff from the office will be travelling to Kenya to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and support the Eldoret Marathon team on April 27.
“We are excited that a good number will be travelling to Eldoret City Marathon later this month where we shall sign an MOU and get to know the team there because we want to collaborate on our races and bring Eastern Africa together. For a long time, Kenya and Ethiopia have been having friendly competition especially in the long distance races and we want to improve on the friendship by coming together,” she added.
On the eve of the weekend’s festivities, Jimma City Mayor Nejib Aba Raya Aba Jobir said: “We are happy that Jimma is hosting this competition and we want to come because we have prepared for you. I hope our guests who came to compete will go back happy after the event.”
With the strong debut of this race, the Jimma Great Run is poised to become a major fixture in the East African running circuit.
It’s not only a win for sports development but also a shining example of how athletics can bridge cultures, boost local economies, and celebrate national identity through movement and unity.
The race categories included under-11 children, 5km elite race, 5km mass competition and the 15km mass race which attracted entries from 13 countries.
In the 5km elite men’s race, Leta Oli won in 14 minutes, 22.50 seconds to finish ahead of Kenesa Tafa (14:50.75) and Abdu Sherefa (14:56.25).
In the women’s category, Mahalet Muluneh led in 20:27.96 ahead of Lubena Nizamu (20:37.51) and Medina Reshad (21:39.77).
This update is generally attributed to Pura Vida’s Content team. Feel free to shared any feedback or or relevant info incase of inaccuracies.
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