Elche athletes' solidarity run in Ananatapur ultra-marathon
THE THREE women from Elchewho form the ‘1km1vida’ (one kilometre one life) project met with mayor Carlos González to inform him of the ‘great charity challenge’ they recently participated in, held in the south of India.
Patricia Sánchez, Ana Romero and Lara Ruiz recounted their experiences of the Anantapur ultra-marathon, which took place on January 24-25.
The race is organised by the Vicente Ferrer foundation which is collecting funds to construct rehabilitation and cerebral palsy centres for children, and build 34 homes in the city of Anantapur, situated in Andhra Pradesh state.
‘Solidarity through sport’ has spread thanks to a group of young people from Elche, who took part in the Anantapur event, which attracted more than 300 people from Spain and other parts of the world.
In total the event raised €200,000, which will be used to help the foundation achieve its goals.
The mayor congratulated the women for taking part in the race that forms part of the 1km1vida initiative, which brings together sport and charity and is committed to the UN’s Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The ultra-marathon was founded in 2015 by the Canary Islands runner and Vicente Ferrer foundation volunteer, Juan Manuel Viera.
The race covers a 170-kilometre course, which should be completed in approximately 20 hours, and is undertaken by teams of four runners, who each run the equivalent of one marathon (42km) in blocks of 10km.
In the eight years of the race, more than 1,000 people have taken part and collectively raised almost €1 million to finance various projects such as home building, basic infrastructure
and supporting hospitals in the area, amongst other projects.
The three women presented the mayor with a memento from the race and encouraged him to take part in next year’s event, as Sr González is a keen long distance runner himself.