Jon with his training group
Ethiopian Altitude Training Trip
30 January – 10 February 2026
From 30 January to 10 February 2026, coach Jon James took part in an altitude training camp in Ethiopia, led by Olympian Richard Nerurkar of the Great Ethiopian Run. Training at 2,300–3,100m in Entoto Forest and Jan Meda Park proved physically demanding and deeply humbling as the group ran alongside elite Ethiopian athletes. Beyond running, the trip included cultural experiences such as a visit to a podoconiosis clinic and local football match. The camp concluded with a half marathon in Hawassa at 1,750m. The experience highlighted Ethiopia’s disciplined, group-focused running culture and the powerful impact of altitude training. Read on to find out about Jon’s 10 day training camp experience.
“What about coming on an altitude training trip to Ethiopia?” – that was the question posed to me around eight months ago - and although I’d always fancied one with a bunch of like-minded, similar-ability running mates, I had some reservations as I do low mileage (15 -20 miles a week)- difficult to keep saying “sorry I can’t run today” on a running camp-and I hadn’t dealt all that well with living at altitude in the past (Bogota in Colombia 30 years ago). However, I was told to “treat it like a Saga holiday”! - they say it takes 3 weeks to fully adjust to altitude so we’ll arrive and will be incapable of more than a shuffle. Climbing over the step into the shower will leave us breathless. After 4 days we might be able to break into a jog. After 8 days we might just be able to run without a cardiac arrest, only to find we need to taper before a half marathon at the end that none of us really want to do. Then we come home….” So, of course I couldn’t resist……-and we were in good hands because the trip was facilitated by Richard Nerurkar (5th in the marathon at the 1996 Olympics) who is general manager for the Great Ethiopian run organisation. Ethiopia is not a country that features in our news much, but it has a population of around 130 million, has a strong religious culture, and is the only African country to have never been colonised and to have its own alphabet (forming the basis of the language Amharic).
Jon running through Entoto Forest donning his Gwent League t-shirt
An Ethiopian Airways overnight flight brought me to Addis Ababa, and the altitude of 2350m was immediately noticeable, as even one flight of stairs sent the breathing rate soaring. I was slightly later arriving than the rest of the group, so no real acclimatisation for me as at 6.45am next morning we were driven up out of Addis to Entoto Forest to take part in the zig-zag recovery running in the eucalyptus forests above Addis that is favoured by many of the elite athletes. They run in a line silently, appearing to operate in sync, with the only sound being the click of fingers of the leader to indicate tree roots and overhanding branches. It would be an understatement to say that we made a poor fist at emulating this! And while the pace might have appeared recovery like- just over 10K in an hour-at 3100m altitude we were pretty shattered at the end of it…Nevertheless, the experience gave you a sense of being at one with nature and with other runners.
The view at altitude
That “Glastonbury feeling” was quickly lost though as we headed back into the bustle and madness of the Addis streets, and partook of a late breakfast at the Haile Grand hotel -yes, part of a chain of hotels owned by the legendary Ethiopian GOAT that is Haile Gebrselassie. The others in the group had met him the previous evening and described him as exhibiting his trademark energy, cheerfulness and positivity. – a true inspiration.
Haile Gebrselassie (left)
That afternoon we were then exposed to another aspect of Ethiopian ‘culture’ as we were treated to VIP tickets for an Ethiopian premier league football match. St George vs Fasile Ketema. There was lots of honest, athletic endeavour but the hard pitch and thin air meant that ball control was hard. The ball spent much of the time bouncing about and there were few goal scoring opportunities. The two sets of supporters on the other hand were entertainingly enthusiastic and vocal, so they provided as much entertainment as the actual football contest!
St George vs Fasile Ketema in the Ethiopian Premier League
Next morning the group run was at Jan Meda Park - this is the Ethiopian equivalent of Parliament Hill and is the spiritual and physical home of their annual cross-country champs which is one of the most competitive races in the world. It turned out to be a flat bit of urban wasteland with a gravel path round the edge – children wandering across it and horses roaming around. There were loads of athletes loping about in the warm sunshine (a welcome contrast to the UK) but they kindly ignored us as we broke into a shuffle and immediately started panting/gasping. The effect of 2,700m altitude was extraordinarily debilitating – I managed a few laps of the 1.2 mile circuit and then did a few strides to see if the theory was right that you should be able to sprint quicker at altitude- seemingly not! While there, we met the 2022 winner of the Berlin marathon (Guye Adula) and the second-place finisher in the recent Valencia 10K (Khari Bejiga) in 26.51!
Jon with Guye Adula
Ethiopia is still rather associated with the famine of the mid 80s and the Band Aid phenomenon-the country has moved on from that, but nevertheless it is a country of vast differences in wealth and health- only a few hundreds of metres from where we were staying was a water point where hundreds of women would be daily collecting water in bright yellow plastic contains. We also saw large UN food conveys heading north from Addis-though possibly bound for Sudan? We were taken to visit a Podoconiosis clinic - ‘Podo’ is an endemic, lower-leg Elephantiasis, non-infectious disease caused by exposure of bare feet to particular soil types typically found in volcanic areas. Left untreated, it results in swelling and severe disfigurement of the lower legs and feet. We were introduced to some patients and saw them being assessed in the clinic and then witnessed the sight of their feet being tenderly washed by the nursing staff. The tragedy is that the disease is entirely avoidable by wearing shoes and is entirely treatable through regular washing and hygiene. Culturally it’s hard to persuade rural people to wear shoes and once someone has podo they are often ostracised and end up begging on the street, which means washing and hygiene are impossible challenges. We left in a pensive mood but full of admiration for the work of the clinic.
Collecting water
Treatment at the podoconiosis clinic
We then transferred to Yaya training village which was situated in the hills above Addis and was at a somewhat higher altitude again We did our morning run on a new road climbing up to 3,000m through forest, accompanied at one point by a couple of hyenas which prompted a lone female Ethiopian athlete to join our group for safety and company-although it was clearly a struggle for her to run as slowly as we were!
Hyena support
Next to the training village was the Kenenisa track (named after the other Ethiopian icon of running, Kenenisa Bekele), but it was something of a surprise to find it in such bad condition with the inside 2 lanes worn through to the base. We attempted to avoid those lanes, but not the Ethiopians-they clearly believe in not taking the easy route. While it was curious to us that with the whole world to choose from, some of the best athletes in the world choose to run on scrubby waste ground and worn-out tracks, often deliberately choosing to run at the hottest time of day. It illustrated that facilities aren’t the key to success. It was good enough for both Tigst Assefa (the women’s world marathon record holder) who we saw cruising round the track shrouded in several track suits, looking substantially easier than we looked or felt, and also Sifan Hussa, who we were told was in the area as well preparing for the London marathon.
Tigst Assefa training
Food was an interesting experience throughout the trip with hotels mostly offering rather unimaginative stodgy pub food (meat and fries, pizza, burgers). We were also conscious of the need to be careful with uncooked vegetables, salads and ice if we were to avoid stomach trouble. Traditional Ethiopian cuisine is mostly built around injera (a sort of pancake made with teff which is a nutritious variety of grass) which was good when well-presented but was hard going when not, even when accompanied by spicy meat and vegetable dishes, and traditional musicians and dancers. Amongst the dancers, a signature move seemed to be a shaking of the shoulders which required much more looseness of joint than any of us possessed!
Injera
Back to the forest the next day for more of the zig-zag Eucalyptus regime-the hour or so flew by, with the pace just quickening when we spied a baboon that had just snatched someone’s lunch-as we didn’t look as though we could provide lunch in any form we were left unscathed! A second visit to the track gave us the chance to witness a large group doing their warm-up drills in effortless, perfect synchronisation. Something we could emulate on Tuesday evenings as part of our warmup, though considerable advancements will be needed in flexibility and coordination!
Warm-up drills in sync
Next day we flew down to Lake Hawassa (1,750m), further south in Ethiopia, and the bus trip from the airport round the lake into town revealed a different lifestyle with most people in the countryside living in circular mud huts. This was in stark contrast to the comfort that we enjoyed in Haile’s smart hotel, with great views over the lake. By this point I had succumbed to some food poisoning, but the others in the group were taken to a pre-race barbeque which had good food and drink and was enlivened by some happy dancing round the fire. They were impressed by the desire to dance with the national flag and sing traditional songs - little chance of that happening in the UK.
View from the hotel over Lake Hawassa
I made the decision at 5am on race day to do the half marathon race (organised by the Great Ethiopian organisation), feeling somewhat better and not believing that running would make me any worse. My race preparation consisted of grabbing a banana and coffee before getting the bus shuttle to the start – oh, and going to the toilet because we had been told that there was only one toilet (an unlit hole-in-the-ground variety) for the 500+ runners! Arriving at the start still in the dark, we warmed up amongst the elite runners who were starting 10 mins before the mass start (‘mass’ meaning about 250 runners). The elites started in the dark but almost instantly after their start it became light. Our team of Ancient Britons sported a tasteful all-black kit then lined up for a photo call with a hastily arranged team of Ethiopian masters-we rather suspected them of being 10-20 years younger than us but it made for a good photo opp.
Prerace photo with the Ethiopian masters
The race was a fantastic experience as we were chased by dogs (though some marshals with long sticks did their best to ensure the dogs weren’t too much of a nuisance), accompanied by young children running far too easily alongside us, and ran a couple of miles near the end on a dirt track by the lake with marabou stork swopping overhead-the elites didn’t do this bit, being kept on the road, and here things got a little chaotic with a couple of our runners being directed the wrong way. I was glad to just get round with the contents of my stomach intact-in 1hour 35 minutes -staggering that the winner of the elite race did 62.13 at an altitude that was perhaps worth 4-5 minutes! We didn’t inevitably beat the Ethiopian master’s team, but one of our team did gain third spot on the podium in that race. As we milled around the finish area we witnessed the start of the mass 8K race-and there were thousands in that-the charge at the start was incredible, but it wasn’t long before you got the impression that this was more street party than race!
Jon racing the half marathon
A fantastic experience: : good people, good chat, good running, good sights, good organisation, cultural enlightenment – what wasn’t to like? For me, the experience of being immersed in the Ethiopian running scene for 10 days indicated the importance of control and discipline, of running in groups, and the value of altitude and heat training-the body has to work hard aerobically, but is physically limited, so there is less strain on the body. And they have the perfect stimulant in Ethiopian Coffee- and Haile even produces his own!
Haile Gebrselassie’s premium coffee
Do chat to me if you have questions or want to know more. I would recommend, if you haven’t read it, the book ‘Out of Thin Air’ by Michael Crawley -it’s about how elite Ethiopian athletes think and train.
Great Ethiopian run: https://ethiopianrun.org/
International Podoconiosis Initiative: https://www.podo.org/
