2019 // A Year of Firsts. The Bekoji 100 Ultra Relay - A GGRF Production
On Thursday morning, January 10th, 2019, a history-making run in honor of peace and women’s empowerment began in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia: 48 runners worked together to cover 100 miles in an ultra relay, the first of its kind in the region.
Half of the runners were young female athletes from Bekoji and the GGRF Athletic Scholarship Program, and other half were women and supporters from different corners of the world. Most didn’t know each other until they gathered at the starting line, but together, we worked for a greater purpose: to uplift and empower the next generation of female leaders.
This historic Relay was made possible thanks to the kind support, contributions, and generosity of 4,852 people globally – incredible!
4,193 people ran the @ragnarrelay x GGRF Day of the Girl Pop Up Run supporting the Bekoji 100 Ultra Relay. Shout out to the team at Ragnar that organized this impactful campaign!
425 people donated to fundraising campaigns supporting individuals attending the Bekoji 100 in Ethiopia.
48 international athletes, GGRF girls, Athletics Federation athletes, coaches, GGRF staff, photographers, filmmakers, and Bekoji police escort ran the Bekoji 100 Relay.
164 GGRF girls, moms, and families in Bekoji celebrated and welcomed the Bekoji 100 Ultra Relay into their community.
22 individuals lead the way in organizing this venture: GGRF Relay Trip Staff, GGRF Board Members, program partner staff members in Ethiopia, Ragner Relay team members, a film team of volunteers from Ethiopia and the US, tourism partners from Simien Eco Tours in Ethiopia, leaders from the Bekoji Youth and Sports Office, and the Bekoji Women’s and Children’s Affairs Office.
Running for Peace and Women’s Empowerment // The Bekoji 100 was the first of its kind Ultra Relay organized by GGRF to honor and elevate the enormous contributions that girls and women have made in Bekoji towards peace and women’s empowerment.
The timing of the 100 mile ultra relay reflects a positive shift for women in Ethiopia’s political climate where women are taking a larger leadership role in politics and society. Over the past few years, the Arsi and Bale Zones where the Bekoji 100 Ultra Relay crossed had endured episodes of conflict. Today, the region is experiencing a period of peace brought by a change in politics and the emphasis on integrating women into the nation’s leadership as one method of spreading peace and goodwill nationally.
When reaching out to community stakeholders across the Arsi and Bale Zones in regards to purpose of the Bekoji 100 Ultra Relay, we brought the message of the Siquee Staff that symbolizes peace and women’s empowerment.
Siquee Women’s Development Association, GGRF’s program partner in Bekoji, draws their name from the cultural tradition of passing down a staff or cane from mother to mother as a representation of the power women may wield in their family and community. The staff represents the peaceful passing of power from one matriarch to another, providing a way for women to protect themselves and call upon their peers for support to bring peace to their home and community.
This is the message we brought with and through the relay. The power of the siquee tradition and the legacy of female excellence in athletics in Bekoji that has elevated the status of women in Oromia Region and in Ethiopia. The Bekoji 100 served not only as a vehicle for honoring this legacy but investing in the future capacity of women and girls to empower themselves in Bekoji.
Tradition // The sounds of clapping and songs greeted us as we arrived in Bekoji. We were celebrating Orthodox Christmas together as a community with food, coffee, traditional bread, and music. The GGRF mothers prepared a welcome coffee ceremony, homemade foods, and discussion on what the GGRF Program has meant to them. All members of our community were invited, Muslim and Christian, to join in a day of celebration and gratitude. Together, with the support of the Bekoji 100 Relay, we were able to make this a Christmas the GGRF community wouldn’t soon forget.
Community // Day 2 of the #Bekoji100 Relay Trip, we were invited to be part of the GGRF Bekoji community. We spent the day visiting the schools, markets, family homes, and running routes of the Bekoji GGRF Athletic Scholars and their families. We also paid a visit to the newly opened Mother’s Shop that was established by a GGRF Mother’s Savings Group so they could sell their goods collectively everyday of the week instead of only on the two market days per week. Ending the day with a hike to watch the sun go down.
Freedom // In the morning, the #Bekoji100 crew left Bekoji en-route for the Bale Mountains. Tracking our course along the way, we stopped for a relay strategy meeting in the Bale Mountains Forest. This was the first time the girls had visited the Bale Mountains and had travelled with this motley crew of runners and coaches from Bekoji and beyond.
For girls in Bekoji, freedom of movement isn’t something that comes easy. Everyday the girls experience the burden of cultural norms that decide where they go, who they spend time with, what they wear, how they use their bodies, and what they are able to achieve in their lives. In the GGRF program, they are able to create a safe space through running and life skills that provides them with a little bit of time to be girls - to develop personal agency, have fun with their friends, and be part of an empowered community.
On the relay trip, this safe space expanded in both time and distance. The girls ran proudly, charging up mountains, through small towns, into the night – wielding their personal and physical power. They cheered their friends on, sang with one another, laughed with a new group of friends, and found joy in the escape that a new adventure brings.
Grit // It was the day of the GGRF #Bekoji100 relay. We began our 100-mile journey with the sun, rising before dawn to begin running for an unknown amount of time across a distance that had never been crossed by a relay team before – at altitude. We would gain and lose over 9,000 feet of elevation across the distance. Beginning at 8,000 ft, rising to over 12,000 ft and ending in Bekoji at a cool 9,300 ft.
We began the relay, together. Running through the Bale Mountains National Park, spotting warthogs, Nyala deer, and baboons as we passed. The relay distance was divided into three sections of roughly 50K, with each team of girls and international runners responsible for completing a section of the course. One by one we crossed the distance in 5K legs, often with teammates joining the legs to encourage and support one another across the distance.
Beginning in the grasslands of the Bale National Park, climbing into the mountains with the sunrise. We continued down the other side of the mountain range into what we called “the farming zone” a section of towns and farmland we would have to cross in the heat of the day. Throwing water and supplies out of the vans, we followed the runners as they made their way to Bekoji. At each hand off, everyone from the relay waited to cheer on runners, hug, cry, and celebrate.
As we made our way to Bekoji, the sun began to set. We were ahead of schedule but were still going to have to run in the dark. We gabbed our glow sticks and reflective vests and made the journey to Bekoji as a team. GGRF Athletic Scholar Meskerem Assefa made the final push, completing the relay to cheers and crowds in the center of Bekoji.
Joy // We cheered, danced, clapped, and laughed together on busses and mountaintops, in fields of barley and local coffee shops, and eventually under the stars as we completed our 100 mile journey in Bekoji town. Upon completing our final leg of the #Bekoji100 ultra relay, the GGRF team burst into song and dance in the streets of Bekoji – waving glow sticks, celebrating this enormous accomplishment as a team.
Legacy // After the #Bekoji100 Relay we celebrated three years of impact in the Bekoji community in partnership with Siquee Women’s Development Association, GGRF’s local program partner in Oromia Region. This trip and the people who came together for it, not only completed the first ever ultra relay from the Bale Mountains to Bekoji but invested in the future of the GGRF Athletic Scholars and their communities in Bekoji for years to come. We celebrated with elders from the community who blessed our ceremony with traditional hymms, song, dance, and food. Together we looked back at three years of impact and what the future holds for women and girls in Bekoji.