Why do we RUN?
Many of us run to keep fit. Others run to lose weight, or to feel the adrenaline of racing alongside others. However, working on Lesvos for all these years has given us a new perspective on running. The refugees and asylum seekers who arrive on Lesvos are also running, but for entirely different and more urgent reasons.
Running is a part of shared history, our shared humanity. It goes hand-in-hand with the human need for movement, for migration; a deep-rooted need for freedom and safety. So, why not run with us? Or, if you cannot, then help our athletes to make it to their finish line; wherever that may be.
What’s a Lesvathlon?
If Sparta can have a Spartathlon, why can’t Lesvos have a Lesvathlon? Here are some important numbers: 320, 50, 36 and 1! Read on below and it will all make sense…
320km is the total distance of the run, which is a complete circumnavigation of the Greek island of Lesvos! 50 is the average number of runners who take part in the annual run, though of course we also welcome many international community members who join us by doing partner runs remotely. 36 hours is how long it takes to run around an entire Greek island, depending of course on the island! And 1 is, of course, how many objectives we have! Our single goal is to raise money to pay our refugee and asylum seeker coaches! Funds raised during the Lesvathlon go directly towards paying coach salaries so we can continue to offer so many sports, totally free!
How Can I Take Part?
You can come to Lesvos and run with us! The Lesvathlon takes place this year on May 30/31. We can’t promise you won’t be running at 3am, but we promise it will be fun!
If you can’t make it though, you can also take part from a distance. We’re running 320km on the island, so we try to convince at least 100 YSR community members to run alongside us, wherever they are, and run at least 3.2km each. You can run any time during the month of May, but especially the week of May 25-31 to build the hype for our main event on the island! That way, we can double the distance covered and, hopefully, double the impact of the Lesvathlon by making it a global event. So, get your running shoes on and hit the sign up link below!
Where Does the Money Go?
A small amount of the money you donate will go directly to cover the logistics of the Lesvathlon itself: food/drink to fuel our athletes, fuel costs for the companion vehicle, first aid supplies, etc.
However, the majority of the funds donated will go directly to support the YSR Coach Support program. Yoga and Sport with Refugees is a community-led organisation. Wherever possible, we recruit coaches from the refugee/asylum seeker community and these coaches are the ones who run our sport classes and act as mentors/leaders in all our projects. The Lesvathlon is our annual drive to fund these coach salaries, so every euro raised means more opportunity for those in the YSR community to share their skills with others. You can see some of our current and past coaches below.
