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Haile Gebrselassie is Running With Us!
He’s 5’5”.
He’s 125lbs.
He’s 37 years old.
He’s Ethiopian.
He’s the fastest long-distance runner the world has even known.
He’s running with us.
It is imagine1day’s great honor to share with you that Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian national hero and international running icon has joined imagine1day’s Imagine Running to Ethiopia – an epic running challenge to build a school.
Growing up on a wheat and barley farm in Asella, a rural community in central Ethiopia, Haile ran ten kilometers each way to school every day, a habit turn hobby turn undeniable talent that catapulted Haile from being his high school running star to the most prolific long-distance runner in the world.
Haile announced his presence on the world stage at the 1992 Junior World Championships in Seoul, South Korea winning the 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter races, the first professional medals of his long and illustrious career.
From Seoul Haile went on to participate in races around the world setting records and garnering new titles almost everywhere he went. From winning gold for the 10,000 meter race at two consecutive Olympic Games (1996 and 2000) to being the current world marathon record holder, Haile has conquered the long-distance track and road running worlds.
But Haile is not only committed to running, he is also driven to make a difference in Ethiopia by supporting education initiatives. Similar to the work that imagine1day does, Haile built a school in his home village in order to ensure that the children living there would not have to walk so far to get to school. This ensures that regular attendance and enrollment are high. While Haile is by no means retired from the racing world, he also runs a number of his own businesses in Addis Ababa and Awassa with his wife and focuses on giving back to his country.
One such effort is Haile’s commitment to run 40 km for the imagine1day: Imagine Running to Ethiopia campaign which enrolls runners from all around the world to combine to run 13,286 km – the distance from Vancouver, Canada to Mekelle, Ethiopia – by December 31, 2010. The goal is that together the runners, like Haile and like you, will raise over $100,000 by having each km they commit to running sponsored by family and friends. All of the funds raised will go directly to building primary schools in communities in Ethiopia.
Aiming for a marathon victory at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London and also committed to building a promising future for his country’s children, Haile continues to show the world that some of the best things truly do come in small, Ethiopian packages.
Haile is running with us and you can too.
Extraordinary !