27 September, 2008
Ethiopian RAB athletes to compete in Addis Ababa 12k in October
On 22 October, Running Across Borders will enter several athletes into the Addis Ababa 12k road race competition. This domestic race marks the first time that athletes will compete under sponsorship by RAB.
The event is organized by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, and typically attracts many top athletes from around the country, in addition to those local to Addis Ababa.
The athletes will not be racing under easy conditions. "Addis Ababa is at 2500m of altitude, which is even higher than a lot of other places within Ethiopia and Kenya," commented RAB co-director Garrett Ash. "But this condition just makes it all the more impressive when the athletes run good times."
Said Ash: "In terms of comparing what these guys will do in the Addis 12k against performances achieved at sea level, there doesn't really exist a hard and fast 'conversion formula.' However, there are some tables published by the National Collegiate Athletics Association in the US that would indicate, for a 10-12k race at this altitude, that the times should be about 10 seconds slower per mile versus what the same athlete could do at sea level."
The athletes will toe the line with every intention of producing succesful results. Check back with us after the race to read of their exploits!
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