670 participants and UAH 275,000 for the Armed Forces: in Ternopil, military and Olympians ran the charity “Fainozabih”
The first charity run in several years took place in Ternopil on October 15th. All the funds (UAH 275,000) collected during registration for “Fainozabih” were transferred to the military needs of the 105th separate area defense battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. More than 600 runners from all over Ukraine took part in the run: military men, representatives of running clubs from Lviv, Kryvyi Rih, Chernihiv, Olympians and corporate teams.
“For me, this run is, on the one hand, a training – I am preparing for the ultramarathon in Taiwan next year, and on the other hand – a symbolic event. Because the 105th brigade took up position exactly where I stood earlier with my guys from the 125th. I know what kind of direction the position is at, so I ran with pleasure to donate them,” comments Valerii Shazhko, a trainer and coordinator of the ShypShyna running club, a soldier of the 125th separate area defense battalion in the city of Lviv.
Valerii was seriously wounded in the war zone. Therefore, he is currently undergoing rehabilitation. However, he did not stop helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine – he is engaged in volunteer activities, trains athletes and personally joined the organization of “Fainozabih”.
Runners competed in several distances: half marathon (21 km), 10 km, and 5 km. Children took part in runs of 100 and 200 m. The cost of the entry fee for adult runs was from UAH 450 to UAH 800, depending on the selected distance and speed of registration, children’s – UAH 200.
The participants were from all regions of Ukraine. Among the winners at different distances and in different age categories were representatives from Odesa, Mukachevo, Uzhgorod, Chernihiv, Lviv, Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Kalush and other cities. Military personnel from the 105th battalion, for which funds were collected, and professional athletes also took part. Also, an Olympian, track and field athlete, bronze medalist of the European Championship Olga Nyzhnyk was present. In 2012, she took part in the Olympic Games in London, where she took 20th place.
“Now I am preparing for new competitions and the Ternopil run has become one of the training stages for me. Despite the fact that it was raining the entire distance, it was not an obstacle – it is more difficult to run in the heat than in the rain,” shares Olga Nyzhnyk, who ran the half marathon and took the second place in this distance.
Another winner at the distance of 21 kilometers was Oleksandr Sitkovskyi. He is a track and field athlete, a participant in four Olympic Games –2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020, he was the winner and prize-winner of international marathons and the Championships of Ukraine. Today Oleksandr is a military man, he joined the Armed Forces immediately after February 22. He came to Ternopil on his day off from military service to compete and keep himself fit.
The half-marathon was organized by the MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation and the ShypShyna Run Club. Also, the event was held with the support of the Ternopil City Council, the Ternopil Regional State Administration, the HOPE.UA Charitable Fund.
“The main goal of the run is to support our military men. The 105th separate territorial defense battalion was formed in Ternopil region 5 years ago. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, thousands of volunteers have joined it. Since then, defenders have been defending the borders of Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions. Currently, the brigade needs special military equipment to perform combat tasks. To help them with this, our foundation, together with its partners, organized this “Fainozabih”, says Iryna Semko, the head of the social development group of the MHP – Hromadi Charitable Foundation.
The winners and prize-winners received monetary awards, cups and prizes. The Western Hub of the MHP, as the general sponsor of the event, provided a prize fund in the amount of UAH 124,000.
“For us, as part of the international MHP company, it is important to support such initiatives. Firstly, it is about a healthy lifestyle. Secondly, about the support of our military. MHP has more than 2,300 mobilized workers. For all of them, the company keeps and pays average salary, helps families, and responds quickly to their requests. We do not overlook the requests of other military personnel – this time from the 105th battalion from the Ternopil region. It is an honor for us to support the event, which collects funds for the needs of these soldiers,” emphasizes Viktor Koriahin, director of the Western Hub of the MHP.
The running club ShypShyna Run Club took over the sports organization. The club team developed the route, helped with registration, invitations of other sports clubs, technical support: time trackers that record time and distances, divide by age categories, etc.
“Only in the first day after the start of registration, we received almost 100 applications. We are very glad that despite the presence of other marathons in Kyiv and Zhytomyr on this day, dozens of runners and sports clubs decided to come to Ternopil. We were also pleased with the different age categories: for example, among men we had participants aged 70-79, among women – 60-69. In addition, we received team registrations – for example, from the MHP company, the MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation, the local media “20 Minutes,” says Ruslan Dryl, a member of the ShypShyna Run Club.