Town of Runners
Published 22 May 2012
The university recently had a screening of the film Town of Runners. Read Sport Journalism BA(Hons) student Anthony Hay’s review of the event:
University of Brighton students had the pleasure of attending a screening of the recently released documentary film ‘Town of Runners’ as part of their pre-Olympic ‘Fuelling the Flame’ series.
Students of the university’s Eastbourne campus were also able to meet star of the film, Sentayehu Eshetu, a world-class athletics coach and producer Jerry Rothwell.
‘Town of Runners’ is a real-life story about two girls from Bejoki – an Ethiopian town that is only a third of Eastbourne in size. The pair are trained by coach Sentayehu who has helped to produce the likes of Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele.
In attendance at the screening (left to right): Jerry Rothwell (director), Sentayehu Eshetu (coach), Professor Jo Doust, Dr Richard Royce, James Wallis and
Dr Andy Theodoulides.
In fact, coach Sentayehu has played a part in his country winning eight Olympic gold medals in the last 20 years, including training Derartu Tulu who became the first African women to win an Olympic gold in Barcelona 1992.
Coach Sentayehu, who has over 243 athletes under his wing in Bejoki, said that commitment was vital when it came to athletics.
“The most important skill is motivation and commitment. The people of Bejoki have seen many successful people leave the town. There are not many avenues to go down in Ethiopia to succeed,” said coach Sentayehu.
“My training sessions combine a lot of different elements including running up and down steep hills. My athletes must have a balanced diet and have plenty of rest, meaning no alcoholic drinks and no going to nightclubs when competitions are close.
“They must discipline themselves, if they don’t they are wasting their training session and effort. No girlfriends or boyfriends are allowed,” added the experienced trainer.
‘Town of Runners’ sees the two girls featured, Alemi Tsegaye and Hawii Megersa, moving away from their families and into athletic clubs in the larger town of Adis Ababa where they are under control by the Oromia government.
Producer Jerry Rothwell decided to shoot the film because he wanted children such as Alemi and Hawii to have the chance to make it as professional athletes.
Jerry said: “We decided to film during the Beijing Olympics in 2008 to get a feel of how much running meant to the Ethiopian people.
“When we started filming it was a beautiful place and not that hot. The town has gone through much change especially with the Chinese building roads through Bejoki.”
When asked if Jerry was hoping to film during the upcoming London Olympics the filmmaker jokingly replied, “It would be great to film during the London Olympics but I can’t even get a ticket.”
Two people who will definitely be at the London Olympics are the aforementioned Dibaba and Bekele who will be looking to sweep up gold medals in the long-distance running events.
Town of Runners can be seen at selected venues across the country. More information can be found at www.townofrunners.com