Chris Turner, Mayor Adanech Abiebie and Haile Gebrselassien with the Great Ethiopian Run Heritage Plaque (© World Athletics 
Jiro Mochizuki)
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque was awarded to the Great Ethiopian Run (2001) in the category of ‘Competition’ during a ceremony in the National Museum of Ethiopia, in the presence of the Mayor of Addis Ababa Her Excellency Adanech Abiebie, on Thursday (20).
Mayor Abiebie and race founder Haile Gebrselassie unveiled the plaque in its impressive permanent location, the gallery of the museum which houses the Imperial Throne of Emperor Haile Selassie, who ruled from 1930 to 1974, and a collection of imperial crowns.
Ahead of the silver jubilee edition of the annual World Athletics Label race on Sunday (23), four-time world and two-time Olympic 10,000m champion Gebrselassie was joined at the ceremony by two of his famous Kenyan friends and one-time rivals Daniel Komen, the 1997 world 5000m champion and multiple world record-breaker, and Moses Tanui, the 1991 world 10,000m gold medallist and two-time Boston marathon winner. Khalid Khannouchi, a four-time marathon winner in Chicago and two-time world record-breaker, made up an impressive quartet of champions in attendance.
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque is a location based honour awarded for “an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track & field athletics and of out of stadia athletics disciplines such as cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking.”
Haile Gebrselassie ahead of the 2025 Great Ethiopian Run (© World Athletics 
Jiro Mochizuki)
“One of the great African sporting success stories”
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe commented: “The Great Ethiopian Run, which was founded by Haile Gebrselassie after returning from his second Olympic 10,000m title, is one of the great African sporting success stories.
“The Great Ethiopian Run international 10km, taking place in Addis Ababa, celebrates its 25th edition on 23 November 2025 and thoroughly deserves the award of the World Athletics Heritage Plaque.
“Over two and half decades, the race organisation has staged more than 200 running events across Ethiopia. These runs, along with the annual headline 10km, have unquestionably contributed to the growth of athletics in the country and have helped to develop young athletes, while promoting important social campaigns such as girls’ education and healthy ageing.
“Some of the greatest names in Ethiopian distance running have won the Great Ethiopian Run but because of Addis Ababa's 2355m altitude, which prevents the fastest times, the organisers have from the beginning focused mainly on mass participation.
“Congratulations to the Great Ethiopian Run, which, annually attracting some 45,000 participants, can celebrate being the largest road race in Africa, fulfilling its vision to raise Ethiopia's image and the health of its population.”
During Thursday’s ceremony, the World Athletics Heritage Plaque was presented to the Great Ethiopian Run by World Athletics Heritage Director Chris Turner and officially accepted by Mayor Abiebie and Gebrselassie.
“Something really special for the people of Ethiopia”
Gebrselassie said: “This award is a big honour for our race and for Ethiopia. I really want to say thank you to World Athletics for recognising our work.
“We also feel honoured to welcome Chris from World Athletics to Addis Ababa to be here with us for the ceremony as the plaque is placed at the National Museum, and for him to attend our 25th anniversary race.
“To have this plaque on show in the National Museum is something really special for the people of Ethiopia.”
The 2023 Great Ethiopian Run ( Agence SHOT Kazuaki Matsunaga)
“One of the world’s great running capitals”
Mayor Abiebie commented: “As a city, we feel honoured to be receiving this Heritage Plaque from World Athletics.
“Running has a rich heritage here in Ethiopia, and for the past six decades our country has given birth to some of the world’s best distance runners. Our great athletes come from different parts of Ethiopia, but they all come to live and train here in Addis Ababa, and we are proud that the city has truly become one of the world’s great running capitals.
“We also feel proud of the international road race here in Addis Ababa, which this year celebrates its 25th edition. I want to congratulate Haile and the Great Ethiopian Run team for their success in developing the event into a very special race.
“We will treasure this award as we make plans to make this an even bigger race and welcome more visitors to Addis Ababa.”
Abebe Bikila
The Great Ethiopian Run’s award was the first of two plaques unveiled in the National Museum of Ethiopia on Thursday. Alongside it now hangs the plaque awarded in 2018 to Ethiopia’s national hero Abebe Bikila, the 1960 and 1964 Olympic marathon champion, in the posthumous category of ‘Legend’, which has finally found its permanent place of public honour in this celebrated country of runners. Bikila was one of the original dozen recipients of the plaque when Coe announced the creation of the award in December 2018.
Chris Turner, Mayor Adanech Abiebie, Tourism Minister Selamawit Kassa & Haile Gebrselassie with the Abebe Bikila plaque (© World Athletics Jiro Mochizuki)
25 years on
Starting and finishing in Meskel Square in the centre of the Ethiopian capital, the annual Great Ethiopian Run is often described as Africa’s greatest sporting street party, with tens of thousands of runners enjoying the colourful sights and vibrant musical sounds of this fast-growing city.
The idea for a mass participation 10km was born when, following his 10,000m victory at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Gebrselassie was invited to take part in the world-famous Great North Run half marathon in northern England. He accepted but said he wanted to organise a similar mass race in Addis Ababa. In 2001, that race was born, and some 10,000 runners followed the victorious Gebrselassie across the finish line.
It was a momentous moment in Ethiopian sporting culture. The Great Ethiopian Run quickly normalised the public’s perception of participating in mass sporting events. No longer would Ethiopian sports fans simply stand on the side of the road to welcome home their country’s all-conquering middle- and long-distance runners from triumphs at the Olympic Games and World Championships, they would run themselves.
The Great Ethiopian Run transformed running into an everyday lifestyle, uniting people through health, celebration and national pride.
As Gebrselassie said: “Running is part of human life. I think many Ethiopians have taken running as a culture.”
World Athletics Heritage
