Ukrainian Inna Gordiienko will be among a group of runners heading to Green Park on Saturday as part of a global effort to raise funds for army equipment for Ukrainian soldiers.
They will complete a 5km route in the London leg of Run For Ukraine, a series of fundraising events organised by Canadian-based non-profit organisation, Second Front Ukraine Foundation, which was set up by Ukrainians.
Ms Gordiienko has organised the run, which starts at 10am, and is hoping her corgi Cooper will join her.
“We are currently raising [funds] for technical radios for the [Ukrainian] Defenders. There is still a shortage of equipment for them,” she told the Standard.
Ms Gordiienko, who now lives in Sussex, said running has helped her mental health as she adjusts to life in the UK.
“Running has been always a part of my life for quite some time, for almost seven years, and I’ve been running mainly as an amateur and I always found it very meditating,” she said.
She arrived in England with her British husband and dog on what she thought was going to be a two-week holiday, just days before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“But two weeks turned into more than a year,” she added.
Ms Gordiienko said she forgot about running for a period of time after the invasion.
“I forgot that I can do it, or I used to enjoy doing it, because when your home is in war and your friends are suffering and people are dying, you don’t really think about things that used to give you some kind of pleasure or enjoyment.
“After maybe months of feeling really depressed and anxious, I thought, ‘Okay, what can I do being a Ukrainian in a big country?’
“I thought that the least I can do is just to run in my Ukrainian t-shirt with the Ukrainian flag and just to draw attention to what is going on in at home. So I started running more and registered for different races.”
She has since run at events in Edinburgh, Brighton and Cardiff in a bid to drum up support for her home country.
Britons are encouraged to run in their own cities and towns and donate online as part of Run For Ukraine. Events have already been held in London, Canada, Israel, Ukraine and across Europe with £4,000 raised so far.
Combining the events, it’s hoped the goal of running 6,992km in total is reached - the total length of Ukraine’s state border recognised in 1991 when Ukraine gained its independence.
Every 10 Canadian dollars donated will be the equivalent of 1km of the state border of Ukraine.
