There's not much good news emerging from Ukraine at the moment but a small community of defiant older people are keeping their indomitable spirits high by taking to the streets of Kyiv most days and keeping in touch with fellow runners via the Strava app.

Top Runners of Kyiv (strapline "Run with Joy") is the largest running club in Ukraine. For 500 Ukrainian hryvnia a month (£13) members enjoy three training sessions a week at National Sports Complex "Olimpiyskiy" (that hosted football matches in the 1980 summer Olympics) and discounts on running gear, sports medicine, race entries, and trips abroad to compete.

All that is suspended, of course, as the world holds its breath and the Ukrainian people in its heart, since the Russian invasion three weeks ago. Yet, despite the bombardment of its towns and cities, Ukraine's runners are continuing to train while carrying out vital chores for their fellow citizens. 

Nikolai Plyuyko (75) – pictured above with a fellow Top Runner – is one of a brave group of older runners who take to the streets, unless prevented by lockdowns such as the most recent 35-hour curfew imposed on Kyivans by the Mayor, Vitali Klitschko. With most men aged 18-60 drafted to join the defence of Ukraine, it is the fit elder citizens who are rallying around to look after the more vulnerable members of their communities.

Plyuyko is a veteran of 48 marathons and he runs 75kms a week in the Natalka Park beside the River Dnieper, where he also swims in the freezing lagoon. He explains his lack of concern for his own safety with a dismissive: "What's the point of worrying? I've lived most of my life anyway". On his runs, Plyuyko often collects groceries and runs errands for his neighbours.

Across the city, but connected by Strava and the messaging app Viber is Volodimir Shymko (67) – pictured above – who has run 40 marathons around the world and isn't going to let war stop him now. He runs to bring some life back to the empty city streets, as he explains: “I can’t go to fight at my age, there is an army for that, but we will see how the situation continues. It’s important for people to show that we are alive and strong. This is our expression of the fight.”

One of the events that Plyuyko, Shymko, and their fellow distance runners are most looking forward to is the return of the Kyiv Euro Marathon, organised by Top Runners of Kyiv, due to be held on 8th May 2022. Europe Day is celebrated in Ukraine with a variety of cultural and sporting events, including the marathon (pictured below).

It is with their daily runs, social media contacts, stoicism, good humour, and hopes for the future that the older runners of Ukraine are battling through these terrible times.  

Images courtesy Nikolai Plyuyko, Volodimir Shymko and Kyiv Euro Marathon on Facebook