Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia

"‘Training alone is just for health,’ is his response. ‘To be changed you have to run with others. You need to adapt to their pace, not run your own.’ This is something that will be hammered into me over the subsequent months. Running alone – like eating alone or even just sitting alone – is seen as deeply antisocial and borderline suspicious in Ethiopia."

"At some point in almost every race you get lost. You open your eyes and realise you’re in trouble. Your heart rate rises, your confidence buckles and you’re suddenly flailing around inside, with no landmark save for a familiar hatred of yourself and the ego that made you line up and race. You slow down and turn on yourself."

"Our group works on speed specifically on a Wednesday, but we also work on it most days, finishing the majority of easy runs with a set of progressively faster strides which seem designed to instil a ‘use it or lose it’ mentality about speed."

"The belief in idil – that is, the belief that if you act in a certain way anyone may be raised to a position of greatness – also means that there is little in the way of belief in innate athletic talent or genetic ability in Ethiopia."

"Throughout my time in Ethiopia, in fact, I never heard anyone mention ‘talent’ or ‘natural ability’. Runners use the word lememed to refer to training as a runner, which literally means ‘adaptation’ or getting used to something."

"Ethiopian runners are very strong mentally. They are willing to ‘do or die’. Some of them aren’t the most gifted runners form-wise. The key to their success is playing the card they were dealt like it was the card they wanted."

"The rooms are all shared and Desaleyn believes strongly that avoiding spending time alone is vital to avoid athletes losing hope. ‘If they stay on their own there is the problem of thinking too much,’ he says."