Wed
26
Aug
Friendship Park Social 5K
Friendship Park, main gate · Bole
Addis Ababa · Ethiopia · 2,355 m
Run together. Belong together.
DEBOL means a cub. We are a social running club for anyone who wants to move through this city in good company: no membership, no qualifying pace, no one left at the back. One easy 5K twice a week: Wednesday evening and Sunday morning.
- 2,355 m of altitude
- Wed 18:30 and Sun 06:30
- Free, always
01 The story of Debol
It started with a 5K.
One morning. One friend. One finish line.
“One morning, I decided to challenge myself and go for a 5K run. A friend joined me, and together we finished it. It was challenging, but crossing that finish line made me realise something: if we could inspire each other, why not inspire others to run with us?”
And that is how Debol Running Club was born. What began as two people finishing one 5K is now a crowd at the park gate twice a week, because running by yourself at half six is difficult and running with other people is not.
Debol means a cub, a young lion that is learning, growing and preparing to lead its own jungle. That is who we are: people from different backgrounds and different stages of life, coming together to grow stronger. We run at conversation pace at the front and at the back, we wait at the junctions, and the run is not over until the last person is in.
Everything we do is free, and the point is not the running. The point is that a city this size can be lonely, and twice a week it isn't. Come once to see. Come every week and you will find you have a pride.
- Belonging Nobody runs at the back alone.
- Movement Wednesday 18:30, Sunday 06:30. Rain included.
- Family The run ends. The buna doesn't.
- Consistency Showing up beats getting fast.
- Altitude we train at
- 2,355 m
- Runners on the group chat
- 70
- Runs every week
- 2
- Birr to join
- 0
02 Upcoming runs
This week
with DEBOL
Every run is free and open. Turn up five minutes early, say your name, and somebody will run with you.
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Join the Friendship Park Social 5K on Wednesday 26 Aug
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Sun 30 AugJoin the Friendship Park Social 5K on Sunday 30 Aug
Friendship Park Social 5K
Friendship Park, main gate · Bole
It's the same run twice a week: one easy 5K loop from the Friendship Park main gate, Wednesday evening at 18:30 and Sunday morning at 06:30, every week of the year. Nothing to work up to and nothing to keep up with. Times here are local clock time; on habesha hours both runs are at 12:30, one in the evening and one in the morning, and you'll get used to it.
03 The DEBOL community
Come as you are.
Run with us.
Nuniyat started the club she wanted to run in, and a lot of the women here came for the reason she did. Taking up the road at half six, morning or evening, is easier in company, and a great deal better.
04 Ethiopian running culture
The best distance runners on earth learned it on ground like this.
Nobody in Addis has to be told that running matters. It is simply what the mornings are for. Before the traffic, the forest roads above the city fill with people in single file: schoolkids, civil servants, and, somewhere in there, athletes who will win in Europe in the spring.
DEBOL is not a training camp and we are not pretending to be. We are the amateur end of the same habit: out before the traffic, the thin air that makes the first kilometre honest, the lap that is mostly talking, and the coffee afterwards that takes considerably longer than the run did.
You do not need to be from here to join in. You do need to be up early.
Where this city runs:
- Entoto3,100 m · forest track
- Sululta2,600 m · open plateau
- Meskel Square2,355 m · the steps
- Gullele2,700 m · botanic trails
05 Belonging & what comes next
The goal is not
to grow bigger.
It is to grow together.
At the heart of Debol is one simple feeling: family. We run together, laugh together, share coffee, create friendships and make memories.
Our vision goes beyond running. We see Debol becoming a pack of lions that creates opportunities, builds businesses, supports one another and gives back to our community.
As we grow, we want to create meaningful charity initiatives, support people in need, and use our collective strength to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
One run started it. A family keeps it moving.
- 01 One 5K run
- 02 A community
- 03 A family
- 04 A pack
- 05 A movement that creates change
06 Run with us
Your first run
starts Wednesday.
Where we meet
Friendship Park, Bole. By the main gate, both days. Look for the gold singlets and the person holding the coffee.
When we run
Wednesday at 18:30, after work, and Sunday at 06:30, before the city wakes up. We leave on time and we come back together.
What to bring
Trainers you have already worn, water, and enough for the park entrance fee. Friendship Park charges at the gate and everyone pays their own. Bring a little for buna afterwards too. No kit, no watch, no target pace, and 5 km is a distance you can walk if you need to.
The main gate on the Bole side. One flat five-kilometre loop, nothing hard to reach and nothing hard to follow. We gather at the gate, not inside the park.
ማሸነፉ እራስን ነው
The one you beat is yourself.
07 From the group chat
@debol_mb
Almost 3,000 of you follow along