The Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, was last week thrown into chaos following three days of civil unrest that left more than 42 people dead and hundreds injured.

Now in the aftermath, the organisers of the 2005 Toyota Great Ethiopian Run, one of Africa’s largest road races - with 25,000 places sold out already - are worried about the conduct of the November 27 race.

Event Coordinator Richard Nerurkar told IAAF freelancer Elshadai Negash:

"For the time being, we are making preparations...We are naturally concerned at what has been happening throughout the town, but we hope that the situation will calm down in the coming days."

Well, It would be a shame, if the race is put off. It's always rare to see Africa's top stars run on Africa soil, so this opportunity should not be missed.

Meanwhile, several top African athletics stars have arrived in Nairobi, Kenya to attend 6th World Conference on Sport and Environment.

The three-day (9-11 Nov.) conference is focusing on the linkages between sport, peace, and environment which is jointly organised by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The conference is attended by 300 heads of National Olympic Committees, international sport organizations and the UN agencies. Elshadai Negash also reported that Ethiopia’s former World 10,000m champion, Berhane Adere and retired sprinter Frank Fredericks of Namibia are also attending the conference.