ADDIS ABABA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Africa's largest road race, the Great Ethiopian Run (GER), will have 44,000 participants for the 2018 edition, an Ethiopian official said on Wednesday.
Speaking to Xinhua, Hilina Negussie, GER's Senior Sales and Marketing Officer, said she expects up to 1,000 foreign tourists to be among the projected 44,000 professional and amateur runners who are expected to participate in the mass athletics event that's held every year in November.
She added that the GER T-shirts will be sold at 10 branches of the state owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and through a mobile banking system.
The 10 kms Great Ethiopian Run was started in 2001 by Ethiopian running legend Haile Gebreselassie as part of his efforts to change running from an elite sport only for stars into a hobby of the masses.
In addition to the 10 kms road race, GER has since 2003 hosted a 6 kms relay race every year in June together with a Chinese firm, International First Highway (IFH).
IFH, a subsidiary of China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), has been engaged in more than 30 projects in the construction of roads, bridges and other civil engineering projects in Ethiopia since its establishment in 1998.
