Boas Kragtwijk, an Amsterdam runner, began his 2,500-kilometer marathon to Ukraine on Saturday to finish it in 50 days. The goal is to generate money for a nonprofit that provides medical help to Ukraine and was founded by expats from Ukraine and Belarus who live in the Netherlands.
Before leaving, Kragtwijk, 28, told Dutch News, “I want to show people in the Netherlands how close this war is to our country.” “I truly wanted to help Ukraine, but I’m neither in the medical nor political professions. Therefore, I am leveraging my love of ultrarunning to generate money for charitable purposes.
Zeilen Van Vrijheid, a Dutch charity that transports repaired ambulances to locations, is the beneficiary of the run’s fund-raising efforts.
To raise money for charity, a Dutch ultrarunner is racing from Amsterdam to Kyiv. Boas Kragtwijk, a 28-year-old runner, intends to complete the 2,500 kilometers by running around 50 km each day for 50 days to raise money for ambulances for the war-torn nation. Kragtwijk hasn’t yet developed any blisters while jogging through Germany.
Reuters, Amsterdam, August 1 – To show how close the conflict in Ukraine is to Western Europe and to collect money for charity, a Dutch ultrarunner is racing from Amsterdam to Kyiv.
Boas Kragtwijk began on July 22 and intends to complete the 2,500 km distance in 50 days by running around 50 miles each day. The goal is to generate money for the Dutch organization Zeilen van Vrijheid (Sails of Freedom) to purchase ambulances to send to Ukraine.
Kragtwijk is running between 40 and 60 km each day, depending on the distance between cities, while being followed by his manager and a photographer in a trailer where they will sleep and dine.
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According to his management, Kragtwijk, who is presently jogging through Germany, has not yet developed any blisters.
Kragtwijk has earned 22,000 euros through his Ultra4Ukraine GoFundMe page so far after 10 days and almost 500 km of running, which is almost enough for one ambulance, which costs 30,000 euros.
Before starting his journey, Kragtwijk, 28, told Reuters: “By running from Amsterdam to Ukraine, we can show how close this war is, and hopefully get people’s attention and raise a lot of money.”
