Nearly 200 Ukrainian athletes took part in the Chicago Marathon, one of the six biggest long-distance races in the world. The athletes ran a total of 41 km in Chicago. Among them was Roman Kashpur, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, who ran the marathon with a prosthetic leg and finished in 5.7 hours. The race was the fifth of six major marathons he plans to complete to support the Ukrainian military and motivate others.
This was reported by Ukrainian World Congress.
Kashpur, a second lieutenant with the 808th Separate Support Brigade, has run marathons in London, Berlin, New York, Tokyo and Washington, DC. The Boston Marathon was the most recent. Roman said he does it to support those who serve in the Army so that others can live full lives. Roman Kashpur, who lost his leg to a mine in Donbass in 2019, plans to become the first Ukrainian marathoner to complete all six major world marathons with a prosthetic leg.
"I love Chicago, especially the Ukrainian diaspora. It's one of the oldest and most respected [Ukrainian] diasporas in the world", he said.
In total, some 50,000 runners took part in the Chicago Marathon, including 141 Ukrainians, 60 of whom were from Ukraine.
Iryna Antokhiv, co-chair of the Ukrainian Running Club of Chicago, noted that many Ukrainians were unable to participate due to military service or injuries. The main purpose of the Ukrainians' participation was to raise awareness of the war in Ukraine.
Photo: Dmytro Halan, Mark Rachkevych
Author: Danylo Pievchev