On 9 June, a sports marathon was held in Novaya Usman dedicated to the 425th anniversary of the village in the Voronezh region. Lada Trubacheva, a student of the Faculty of Journalism of VSU, head of the children’s press centre of the Otradnoye secondary school, took part in the competition together with schoolchildren from forms 7–11.
The marathon was held as part of the “Get charged” campaign. The distance corresponded to the age of the largest village in Russia, it was 4 kilometres 250 metres. More than 300 people participated in the race, including adults, children, residents, and visitors of the Novousmansky district.
The race began near the building of the Novaya Usman secondary school No. 2 and finished on Ploschad Mira. The participants ran along the main street of the village, so one side of the road was blocked for traffic. Cars passing on the other side of the road honked the horn to support the runners.
Lada Trubacheva was the only participating teacher who made it to the finish. Her students also did not drop out.
“This was the first marathon in my life. When I started, I was afraid I wouldn’t make it! But regular practice with the VSU handball team over the past 5 years has improved my endurance. I managed to make it to the finish thanks to our coach Evgeniya Kozyreva, a teacher at the Department of Physical Education and Sports. We had strict discipline with her all year round. When I ran, I was thinking that I didn’t want to let my teacher down,” said Lada Trubacheva.
“Running with Lada and the guys was fun. We chanted and supported each other,” said Ekaterina Beresneva, a student of the Otradnoye secondary school, sharing her impressions.
After the finish, the runners could do some exercises with Sergey Tkachenko, international class master of sport, winner of the ultra-trail around Elbrus, and Russian record holder in 24-hour running. The event concluded with the participants forming up the number 425, and the picture of this was taken by a quadrocopter.
