CHILDREN joined an Ethiopian coach from a town famous for its athletes to train for tomorrow’s Run Jericho.

Sentayehu Eshetu, of Bekoji, joined pupils of St Barnabas School, who are training for the annual running event, now in its fifth year.

It includes a 10km route for adults and a one-mile run for children and takes in the scenic surroundings of Jericho, Worcester College, Port Meadow and the Oxford Canal.

The run brings in cash for the school in Hart Street, and has also supported a library in Bekoji, a small town 200 miles south of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

It is 10,000ft above sea level, making it ideal for altitude training Mr Eshetugrew teaches in the town’s Elementary School and one of his former pupils, Derartu Tulu, became the first African woman to win an Olympic Gold in Barcelona in 1992.

He visited St Barnabas School to update staff and pupils on the library project.

Run Jericho organiser Holly Joseph, whose nine-year-old daughter Zinzi Spiller will take part in the children’s run, said: “It is going to be our biggest event yet.”

Zinzi added: “I always like Run Jericho, because everyone gets a medal and you get an ice cream at the end too.”