“Running Hearts” charity run to be held in Moscow in aid of the Naked Heart Foundation
On 16th May, the
“Running Hearts” charity race will be held in support of the Naked Heart Foundation. The runners will set off from Moscow’s Gorky Park. The run has been organised by the Naked Heart Foundation and Polina Kitsenko, Creative Director of Podium Market Fashion Group, with support from Guerlain and technical assistance from 3SPORT and Mikhail Gromov, who organises competitive running events under the “Grom” (“Thunder”) brand name. The general sponsors and partners are Adidas and Coca-Cola and the event is also supported by Gorky Park and the Moscow Department of Culture.
Official website for the race -
runninghearts.ru
The aim of the run is to collect donations to fund an
integrative, educational summer break for children and young people with autism spectrum disorders. Watch the video below to learn more about our camps and how they are changing lives:
Support the team by making a donation in any amount
here.
Donate!
Natalia Vodianova: ”Why a run in particular? Because running is simple. Anyone can run. There is probably nothing else that any able-bodied person can do without being taught how. Your ability to run does not depend on your age, your financial situation or your skin colour. Running is the most democratic of sports.
Also, running is fun, especially if you are part of a team of like-minded people and are running not just for the sake of it, but for a purpose.
I started running six years ago, when someone at Naked Heart suggested that we should take part in the Paris Half Marathon – we were then able to rally a team together to achieve a common goal and raise funds for the Foundation’s programmes.
Over the years, more and more volunteers joined us to “run with purpose”. Every year we set a target amount that want to raise and decide which programme we are collecting donations for. The simple fact of knowing how many families with children with disabilities will benefit from access to free, high-quality services thanks to our efforts works wonders in getting the team to the finish line.
Gradually, people in Russia began responding to the idea of running for a purpose, which is very popular all over the world. Over the years, more and more volunteers from Moscow and elsewhere in Russia started travelling to Paris to join us in running the half marathon in aid of the Naked Heart Foundation. As I saw this trend develop, I always wished that there was a similar event in Russia.
The 5- or 10-km race in Moscow, which we have called “Running Hearts”, is an opportunity to spend a fun, different and memorable day outdoors, meet lots of great people and, most importantly, help raise funds in order to give to hundreds families raising children with autism and other disabilities a summer break and train Russian specialists how to organise such breaks during a training session at the Rising Sun summer camp for children and young people with autism in New Mexico. I hope that the first Moscow race will be a success and become a regular fixture for friends of the Naked Heart Foundation.”
Polina Kitsenko: “I’ve been a keen amateur sportsperson for several years – in summer I take part in triathlons and in winter I ski. It’s become a real passion of mine and I dedicate a lot of my time to it – sport has opened up a whole new world to me. Over the past few years I have taken part in dozens of competitions in various countries and learnt a lot – I have mastered my own body, become healthier and happier and made lots of friends. I also realised that all of us were passionate sport lovers – a little egotistical, fixated on the result, always looking to build on our achievements and on an endless path of self-improvement. Of course, we are not professionals and our main rival is always ourself – we would all win gold in the “Victory over the Self” category. However, the time has come for us to convert these personal victories and endless self-improvement into a different kind of personal development, by helping those in need. I was taught to run with purpose by Natalia Vodianova when I took part in the Paris Half Marathon with her for the first time a couple of years ago – not just to get a good time but for the more important purpose of raising funds for the Naked Heart Foundation.
Running is becoming wildly popular all around the world and all major running events raise money for charity. Fundraising has become such common practice that it is no longer an option to run without raising money! And now Natalia and I have decided to organise our own run, this time in Moscow – the “Running Hearts” race. All the funds raised will go to the Naked Heart Foundation. I invite everyone to join us in running with purpose, and this in no way prevents us from continuing to set personal targets and beating our own records – this time we’ll not only become faster and stronger, but also become better people and help those in need.
When creating “
Running Hearts“, we united all the best forces and used all our joint experience and skills. I am grateful to Adidas for supporting our initiative without a second thought and agreeing to be our general partner and sponsor. I am also grateful to our general sponsor and partner Coca-Cola – this is not the first time it has generously supported Natalia Vodianova’s projects. I would also like to thank Guerlain – permanent sponsor for the Naked Heart races in Paris and now supporting the Running Hearts race in Moscow. Our technical partner and co-organiser was Mikhail Gromov and his company “3Sport”, which has become renowned in Moscow’s running and sporting world for organising what we consider to be the best competitions there are. I have taken part in dozens of international and Russian competitions from triathlons and runs to ski marathons, and I used all my knowledge and experience when organising this race. I would like to thank Natalia Vodianova and the Naked Heart Foundation for the life lessons they have taught me and for helping us become better people and better athletes, running with a new purpose! Let’s run together!”
All the information relating to the run can be found on the website
runninghearts.ru
To help us raise funds for the organisation of summer camps for children with autism spectrum disorders, you can made a donation to any of the runners on
this page.
