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Kristin Chandler and her son Elijah, 6, pose for a photo at Palo Alto... ( Kirstina Sangsahachart )
The first time Kristin Chandler stepped foot in Ethiopia, it was to adopt her son. The return trip five years later will fortify their bond as the 40-year-old Palo Alto resident will travel to Hawassa, Ethiopia, to run the inaugural Haile Gebrselassie Marathon on Oct. 20 alongside her father.
"This will strengthen our connection to that culture and the country," Chandler said.
It was in 2008 that Kristin flew to Ethiopia with her husband Zach to meet an infant named Elijah, who is now 6½ years old. The "half" is of particular importance to the youngest member of the Chandler family.
"We always knew that we wanted to build our family through adoption," Kristin said. "And we looked at lots of different situations and decided this was right for our family."
Not only did they add a son, but Kristin feels they gained a community as well as a culture. The family has participated in Ethiopian dance and art classes, cooks Ethiopian food and listens to native music. Elijah spent last week at Ethiopian heritage camp in Berkeley, where he learned about how Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome while running the marathon barefoot.
An active child with a winning smile, Elijah's favorite sport is basketball. He also plays soccer and T-ball.
"I like to watch Stanford sports," Elijah said. "I watched a football one and a basketball one and another basketball one. One was with the women's and one was
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with the men's. And I saw Stanford play baseball."All things Ethiopian have a way of finding their way to Chandler, which is how she came to find out about the Haile Gebrselassie Marathon through Facebook.
"And I thought, maybe, turning 40, I could do a marathon," said Chandler, who ran cross country and track in high school. "I had never done one before, but why not?"
Gebrselassie won Olympic gold medals in the 10,000 meters at Atlanta in 1996 and four years later in Sydney. His 2008 world record in the marathon stood for three years. He also set the record in the half marathon in 2006, his first on American soil, at the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon -- an event staged by Tim Murphy's previous company, which he sold in 2007.
Murphy later invested with a partner in Moray Mountain Sports, a San Diego-based company that specializes in running tours to exotic destinations around the world. About a year and a half ago, the idea to blend Gebrselassie's love for running and his country seemed like a perfect fit.
"I kind of put those two ideas together," said Murphy, who is coordinating tours of varying lengths around the marathon, which also includes a half marathon, a 5k and a children's race. "It's such a fabulous country, and the people, which I think is the most important consideration when we decided to put on a race, the people are so friendly and so gracious and they're fabulous hosts."
Gebrselassie, who owns a hotel in Hawassa, will be a full participant in the event, which will consist of two loops within city limits with native musicians stationed along the course.
"I think he really wants people to see a different side of Ethiopia than what you often hear in the media," said Chandler, a New Hampshire native who has lived in Palo Alto since 2006. "Of course, we all have these sort of ideas with Ethiopia and the famine. That stuff has happened, and there's poverty, but I think he wanted to show that there is so much beauty."
Zach and Elijah will miss the trip, but Kristin will be joined by her parents, who live in Montana. Peter Dascoulias, her father, is a former Olympic biathlete who at 64 years old accepted the challenge of running 26.2 miles in a foreign country.
"I don't have any doubt about him," said Chandler, who speaks with her father at least every other day about their training. "He's a machine. He says he's going to have a hard time keeping up with me, but I don't think that's true. I think I'm going to be lucky if I can stay with him."
Chandler completed a half marathon in June in just under two hours. She's currently running 25 to 30 miles a week, including the 3.3-mile satellite dish loop at Stanford. The altitude at Hawassa, which is roughly the equivalent of Denver, is the most worrisome part of the endeavor. But if she has to run a little slower, that's OK.
The important thing is that she keeps pace with her father, and vice versa.
"I think it really is about running it together," Chandler said. "It's a family event and just really the experience of being there with my parents. The last time I was there, it was with Zach, my husband, and Elijah. And so this time, it's about having the experience of being in the country and running."
"Everybody has their own unique story, and many of the stories are very incredible," Murphy said. "Most of the stories are pretty emotional because it's a very physical demand that you have to commit to and train for. It's good to have a good reason to run a marathon."
The best reason could be the charities. Moray Mountain Sports has pledged $200,000 to the Entoto Foundation, which is dedicated to helping Ethiopians gain access to medical care and treatment that is not available to them. Chandler appears atop the home page of the charity's website as she hopes to raise $2,000 prior to the marathon. Right now, she's $900 shy of her goal.
"There's a shortage of doctors for folks in Ethiopia, so it's a great organization," Chandler said "It's a great cause ... so I'm hoping to bring in just a little bit more."
Chandler is also attached to AHOPE, which stands for "African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace" and provides care for children who are HIV positive. She has a bin in front of her house to collect school supplies, has purchased soccer balls that don't deflate and sent an email blast to her neighborhood to get the word out.
"So as money comes in, that feels really good," Chandler said.
Many people in Ethiopia will become the beneficiaries of a family that fell in love with a 6½-year-old who has two places to call home.