While the damp morning at Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) echoed with nighttime shelling, a group of 25 Slovak and Ukrainian marathon runners (marathon runners) set off on an almost thousand-kilometer distance. The start of the symbolic event right in the center of the Ukrainian capital was accompanied by explosions and a series of air raid alarms.
The project called “Peace Run Kyiv – Košice” started symbolically on September 24, as on this day the organizers remind about the ongoing military conflict. The event is organized by the Košice civic association Feman within the current year of the cultural festival.
Night drama before the start and strong stories on the route
The very early start at 9:00 was preceded by an extremely difficult night. According to Eduard Buraš, director of the Feman association, drones struck not only the railway station area but explosions also sounded near the hotel and the runners’ starting zone. Sirens and explosions were heard in the city from midnight until a quarter past three in the morning.
Among the participants who decided to cover the distance connecting Ukraine and Slovakia (Slovakia) are athletes from both countries. Among them is the well-known Roman Catholic priest Peter Gombita, longtime head of the homeless shelter “Oáza – Hope for a New Life,” who has several extreme endurance projects behind him. On the route also went Mykhailo Ivanchenko, who after the war started first lost his home in Donetsk, and recently a missile destroyed his spare apartment in Kyiv.
Determination to cover a thousand kilometers in any weather
The first hours of running were accompanied by cold weather, strong wind, and continuous rain. However, as Eduard Buraš noted, Father Gombita even in difficult conditions stated that this is the perfect time for running. The runners on the long route constantly change each other, and their goal is to cross regional borders and deliver a strong peaceful message through the corridor of friendship.
The route passed through Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia regions, with daily kilometer distances testing the physical fitness of the entire relay. The whole project was previously blessed by the apostolic nuncio in Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas.
Climax in Košice and the International Peace Marathon
If conditions on the route and the security situation allow, the marathon runners are expected to arrive in the capital of Eastern Slovakia on Friday, October 2. Their arrival will smoothly transition into the International Peace Marathon, the 103rd edition, which starts in Košice on Sunday, October 4.
Some runners, including Ukrainian participants, after covering the thousand-kilometer distance plan to directly join the starting line of the Sunday marathon, symbolically uniting the efforts of athletes from Ukraine and Slovakia (Slovakia).
