CONGRATULATIONS. We are so proud of Hana Abo, one of the five young women Girls Gotta Run supported while she was in the Running Across Borders training program for the past three years. Now a professional runner, she won her first international race, the Global Energy Inverness Half Marathon, on Sunday, March 11, with a time of 1:15:04.

From the Scottish Running Guide:

"Abo's victory in the women's event was particularly impressive given that she arrived in Inverness less than 24 hours before the race, having travelled overnight on Friday from Ethiopia.

The 20-year-old enjoyed her first overseas competition: "It's good. I really enjoyed it. I ran my fastest time but I think I can go even quicker if I get the chance to compete in other races. I would certainly like to come back to defend my title."'

Kayla Nolan, GGRF Advisory Board Member and Director of Outreach, Research and Development, presents some of the findings of her research on the young women on our GGRF-funded teams in Ethiopia during the Summer of 2009 at the first International Conference of Ethiopian Women in the Diaspora. (Session II on Saturday, March 10). Her presentation was met with great enthusiasm. (Photo by Leeda Mehran.)

UPCOMING EVENTS.

Garrett Ash will be presenting a paper on GGRF co-written by him, Malcolm Anderson and Pat Ortman at the 8th Annual Sports in Africa Conference at Ohio State University on Friday, April 6.

Run, Joanna, Run! On April 15, GGRF Advisory Board member Joanna Johnson runs her first marathon, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. After spending six months in Ethiopia, she is committed to helping the young women of GGRF to realize their dreams. If you want to help Joanna meet her fundraising goal, click here. At left, Joanna runs - and wins! - in France.

"Town of Runners," a documentary about young runners from Bikoji, Ethiopia, will be having its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC on April 20.