Solutions to win: Kyiv Invincibility Marathon raises almost $250,000 to support Ukraine’s armed forces

The country's main marathon, the Kyiv Invincibility Marathon of 2024, was held in the capital on October 12 and 13. The event attracted 10,200 participants, including 9,600 runners, among whom were military personnel, veterans, children, amateurs, and professionals.

The press service of Run Ukraine reported that.

The organizers stated that this charity event raised 10 million hryvnias, with most of the funds allocated to support the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

As the main distance, the marathon began with a symbolic countdown and a gunshot to pay tribute to those who gave their lives and can no longer participate in any marathons.

^{Photo: Run Ukraine}

"Ukraine has successfully hosted the 14th annual Kyiv Marathon. This charitable race, organized in partnership with PrivatBank and other sponsors, raised 10 million hryvnias. Thanks to the participants' efforts, the majority of this sum will support the Defense Forces.

For the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a running event took place on the streets of Kyiv with a 21-kilometer course. We are grateful to the city and the military administration, with whom we worked for many months. Sport is motivating. About 1,000 soldiers and military veterans participated in the event over two days," Run Ukraine partner Viktoriia Veremienko said.

The organizers say that the marathon also had several charitable goals, including:

• 56 million hryvnias will be transferred to the "Defense" direction through the state fundraising platform UNITED24;
• all participants' contributions of the 1.6 km distance (193,000 hryvnias) will be transferred to the Superhumans rehabilitation center.

Separate funds will be transferred to military units, such as:

• The third assault brigade,
• 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo,
• National Guard of Ukraine,
• the NextStep center.

The Run Ukraine organization focused on multiple charitable goals driven by various needs. Thanks to the charity marathon, these goals were successfully achieved.

Some of the participants included military personnel going through rehabilitation:

• One example is Dmytro Krasnovsky, who, despite his severe injuries, completed a 42-kilometer race in a wheelchair.
• The event also featured races honoring fallen heroes, such as the marathon that rescuer Andrii Hrechany dedicated to a fallen colleague.

"People should remember our work, people who gave their lives to save others," Hrechany said.

Tetiana Sysoenko also ran a marathon with her 3-year-old son Davyd, who completed his first marathon in a baby carriage.

"I dared to do this for only half a day. I had two starting numbers: one for the marathon and the other for the half-marathon. Today, I ran 42 km. The little one had a temperature at night, and I thought this was a sign that I should not run. But in the morning, I thought the marathon is held once a year, so I decided to participate," Tetiana said.

Runners from 35 different countries participated in the marathon, including Latvian athlete Samantha Gatis, who completed her 90th marathon of the year. Ivanka Koturbash even completed the race remotely from the "Akademik Vernadskyi" research station in Antarctica.

Mykola Davydenko won the marathon for the second time in a row, and Mariia Radko was the fastest among women.

The last finisher was Emilia Merenmäs from Finland, who crossed the finish line with the words: "I am running for Ukraine."