Marathon in Ukraine | A Quebecer’s Race in the Ruins of Irpin

Anne-Lise Nadeau was tired on Monday, and with good reason. She ran a marathon in the streets of Irpin in Ukraine the day before and, when night fell, the actress didn’t sleep a wink because of a Russian missile attack.

“I’m tired, but that’s so secondary compared to what people here are going through,” says the Quebec ultramarathon runner, in her temporary accommodation in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv.

Anne-Lise Nadeau didn’t end up running 42 km in a war zone by chance. The marathon was a way for the Bromont Ultra ambassador to raise funds that will go toward rebuilding bombed-out villages.

Together with members of the Relief Aid organization, the actress also went to deliver construction materials directly to Ukrainians whose homes were hit by Russian strikes in the Kharkiv region. “It was so sad to see elderly people with their homes completely destroyed. How do you expect them to get there without help?” she adds.

Missile-damaged buildings are everywhere, according to the runner. “Just in Kharkiv, the main street is beautiful, full of great restaurants, but you go up one street and everything has been bombed,” she says.

Although this journey takes her completely out of her comfort zone, Anne-Lise Nadeau assures that it is worth the effort. “We really wanted to draw people’s attention to a situation that is still very real for Ukrainians, but that we, as Quebecers, tend to forget,” she emphasizes.

Duality

On the night of Sunday to Monday, Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses shot down about twenty missiles heading towards Kyiv, in an attack that left three people injured.

“The sirens sounded all night, and then the explosions,” recalls Anne-Lise Nadeau. “I felt them so close, at one point the walls were shaking!”

The event shook the runner, but the residents of Irpin are used to bombings after two years of war. “It struck me as soon as I arrived, all these people getting dressed up, chatting in parks, going to work, but going to bed at night without ever knowing what’s going to happen,” she says.

The Russian attack caused anxiety among Anne-Lise Nadeau’s three children and partner, who nevertheless supported her decision to undertake the trip. “They encouraged me to seize this opportunity, even if it can be worrying,” she says.

For the love of racing

On Sunday, Anne-Lise Nadeau ran alongside members of the Irpin running club. Before starting the marathon, the runners gathered for a minute of silence in honor of the victims of the war. “It gave me chills,” she confided.

During the marathon, tongues were loosened and Anne-Lise Nadeau spoke with the Ukrainian runners about the Russian occupation that led to many deaths in Irpin in 2022. “They told me it was hard, knowing that so many people fought and died, while they have the right to run in a park and laugh together,” reports the actress.

It’s in this kind of exchange that the beauty of running lies, according to the actress. “It’s really an extraordinary side of this sport: it removes barriers, it gives you a community, no matter where you come from,” she adds.

After this week spent in Ukraine, the mother is now preparing to return to Quebec on Thursday, where her family and loved ones are impatiently waiting for her. “The worry is there, it’s time for me to go back […]. But I will come back changed,” she emphasizes.

With Agence France-Presse