Bekoji, The Town of Runners. After spending the morning at the National Junior Championships in Acela, we took a minibus to the small town of Bekoj, about an hour south. We gradually climbed the dusty open plains dodging all kinds of cars, animals, and people littering the road. The van pulled up in the bus parking lot, and the downtown area was buzzing with activity. I climbed the hill to the hotel and called the coach Shintaev’s number given to me at Acela. An absolute legend in Ethiopian athletics, Sintayev has elevated the talents of his athletes like Bekeres, Dibaba, Delartu He Tulu, and countless others in Oromo. He immediately offered to meet me at the hotel when he answered my call. In less than 15 minutes we were chatting over tea and Sintayev was happy to share his story and life. The following day, Saturday, when his team was scheduled to train at a local track, one of his athletes met me at the hotel and said he would accompany me to meet the team. That night I left town and jogged into a field. A beautiful gravel road meandered past eucalyptus groves and pastures of cows, and kids playing soccer, calling me and waving as they passed. Bekoji is a charming little town. While jogging down a back road with Efrem, one of Shintayev’s athletes, freezing wind blew up from the nearby Bale Mountains. A cloud of dust blew around us as we made our way to Bekozi Stadium, the local racetrack. It was not seven in the morning, the sun had not yet risen on the mountains around me, and I was frozen. As we went through the gate, we found Shintaev and his group of athletes off the track.
