From rickshaws to running shoes in pursuit of trail glory

Members of a local athletics club who transport passengers for a living are now beating elite athletes in international endurance events

- By Romain Philippon

It is a fiercely competitive market, and one of the toughest physical jobs in Madagascar’s Antsirabe, but for five years cycle rickshaw driver Haja Nirina has honed his athletic prowess alongside his business.

In this city, about 160km south of the capital, Antananarivo, there are more than 4,000 rickshaws for a population of 265,000. It is the cheapest transport available for people and goods. Some are pulled by cycles, others by hand.

Each day Nirina makes 10 to 15 trips, earning 10,000 to 15,000 ariary ($2.25 to $3.35). Unlike 99% of drivers, Nirina doesn’t lose 5,000 ariary of his income paying a daily rental fee for the rickshaw. For three years he has owned his, thanks to a programme run by his local athletic club.

Crown Athletics Club has its roots in Antsirabe’s first rickshaw race in 1997, when Tsiry Rakotomalala organised prizes of rice, chickens and other food items. The race was so popular that Rakotomalala recruited about 10 drivers to launch Crown, the city’s first athletics club, which gained momentum with the arrival of Yann Mayette as its president in 2017. Convinced that Madagascar’s athletes had the potential to compete internationally, he encouraged the runners by offering a microcredit plan through the club, enabling them to buy their cycle rickshaw.