Athletics:The former Olympian tells Ian O'Riordanhow her first visit to the hotbed of distance running proved a great reality check

Given she has raced in four Olympics and over a dozen world championships and clocked up more miles than the average jet plane, you might think Sonia O'Sullivan had experienced it all in terms of distance running. Yet last week she experienced possibly the hardest training sessions of her life - and definitely one of the hardest races.

After years of promising, O'Sullivan made her first visit to Ethiopia, training in the mountains around Addis Ababa and then entering Sunday's Great Ethiopian Run. On Tuesday evening she was back in London, celebrating her 37th birthday with an Ethiopian cake - a gift from a certain Haile Gebrselassie - and recounting what was a humbling trip in more ways than one.

"It had to be the hardest place I have ever run in my life," she said. "Not just the race, as I really didn't expect too much from that, but just running in general. We were training up the hills at En Toto, where all the athletes train at six each morning.

"It's around 10,000 feet, and the terrain is rougher than anywhere I have ever run. There are sections that remind me of runs at Falls Creek in Australia and Mount Laguna in California, but to get to these sections you have to get across some very rocky and bumpy terrain.

"I can see why the Ethiopians are so good at cross-country. Any course is a golf course compared to the running surface there. That's not to say that it's not enjoyable.

"I found once I got through the first 20 minutes, which was always the roughest section, that I could get myself together and enjoy the best air quality Addis has to offer, fantastic views, encounters with goats, sheep, cows and donkeys . . . a very varied run. Each day I ran for one hour but never made it out for the second run. Instead I took the easier option of the gym and swimming pool. Though swimming would not be my first choice of exercise again at 8,000 feet."

So to Sunday's Great Ethiopian Run, a 10-kilometre "fun run", which in fact is treated very seriously by those lucky enough to secure entry.

"There were 25,000 official starters, with over 30,000 somehow getting across the finish line," said the Corkwoman. "Even though I knew the elite women's start was being ambitious it was the safest place to start, as there was a massive rush at the start of the main field. There were 200 elite women starters, of whom I recognised about three. The start was so fast that after 400 metres there were at least 150 ahead of me. I gradually picked off a few girls as the race went on, passing girls in bare feet and sandals, and some were even ahead of me up until 8 kilometres.

"During the race my thoughts were few as the effort to run was so great.

"There were three hills, the third of which would put a hill on any sea-level course to shame. At times I thought I would never get through it, but then I looked to the side of the roads and the poverty and condition of many of the people who turned out to cheer us on was so desperate that it put things in perspective, and running a 10k in less than ideal conditions at 8,000 feet was easy."

O'Sullivan admits she was rarely happier to see a finish line. She ran 36 minutes 48 seconds, but has no idea where she finished. A young and little-known Ethiopian, Belaynesh Fekadu, won in 33:02.

"I thought never again," added O'Sullivan. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, but after I crossed the finish line my first thought was I would like to come back again. It is an experience I will never forget, and would recommend to anyone who loves running.

"On the day after the race I was invited by Concern to visit one of the projects it supports in Addis, an educational project to encourage women to set up their own businesses in a way that will help them to earn a living and support their families.

"These are very basic business classes but the enthusiasm and happiness of these poverty-stricken women showed - it was as if they had been handed a golden opportunity.

"I was shown the local market these women had set up with the help of a co-operative that they also set up themselves. These women were a joy to share the afternoon with, and they invited me back to their very basic homes, which they were proud to show me as they had improved so much since they achieved their training with Concern.

"To be able to get close to the poverty that is so great in Ethiopia was a very humbling experience and showed me how much we have to give these people to help them improve their lives. Every day when I went running, little children came begging for anything I had - empty drink bottles, T-shirts I had just been running in. Hopefully, the work being done by the Great Ethiopian Run will attract more visitors to Ethiopia and provide more hope for the people."