A nationwide commemorative run “I Honour Warriors, I Run for the Heroes of Ukraine” took place in Stryiskyi Park in Lviv, dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine. The event brought together around 1,500 participants, including veterans, service personnel, volunteers, young people, community representatives, as well as Acting Chair of the Lviv Regional Council Yurii Kholod and regional councillor Severyn Khobzei.
Before the start, participants honoured the memory of the fallen defenders with a nationwide minute of silence. This was followed by a formal opening, the performance of the State Anthem of Ukraine and a joint warm-up.
“The nationwide run ‘I Honour Warriors, I Run for the Heroes’ is already our annual tradition of remembrance. It was launched in 2018, and today it unites Ukrainians in different corners of our country and abroad. Some run for a son or daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, friend or comrade-in-arms. And some run for a Hero they have never known personally. But every name on the race bib is a real person, a life and a feat we have no right to forget. It is the duty of each of us always to remember, to stand by the families of the fallen Heroes, to speak about them, to say their names and to pass this memory on to future generations,” emphasised Yurii Kholod.
Among those taking part in the run was Ivan Drozd, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, who sustained a severe injury during the fighting in 2022 and lost his left arm. In 2023, his 20-year-old son Andrii was killed in Zaporizhzhia region. During his rehabilitation, Ivan took up running and now competes in international races, dedicating them to the memory of his son and the fallen defenders.
The event featured races over various distances. A total of 265 participants ran the 10-kilometre distance, 400 took part in the 5-kilometre race, and more than 500 runners completed the 2.5-kilometre course. Another 38 participants chose Nordic walking. Children were offered races over 100 and 300 metres.
The tradition “I Honour Warriors, I Run for the Heroes of Ukraine” envisages that each participant runs for a specific Hero — a loved one, friend, acquaintance or defender they did not know personally. This year, representatives of communities from across Lviv region also joined the run, including from Rudky, Zolochiv, Sambir, Novyi Rozdil, Stryi and Sheptytskyi.