They ran for health for the 15th time!
Onkobieg on its anniversary returned to Warsaw and broke another record for cancer patients.
On 11 September, Sunday, for the fifteenth time, Poles - and not only! - ran in a gesture of solidarity with oncology patients and their families. It was all thanks to the event that the Sarcoma and Sarcoma Association has been organising since 2007, the "Onkobieg - Together for Health!".
The 2,500 registered Onc runners covered a total of more than 15,000 km which translated into a total of PLN 256,000! This contributed to breaking the record in terms of funds raised, which the Sarcoma Association will use to support its charges and prevention.
This year's Onkobieg, is a great return to the place where it all began, the National Institute of Oncology in Warsaw. After two years of organising the run in pandemic Covid -19, the organisers announced before the summer holidays that the anniversary run would be held in Warsaw's Ursynów district with the option of a virtual run. Each participant could choose what was best for them. Thus, around 1,000 participants ran their individual routes in the virtual run, while 1,400 runners met again on a common route in the capital.
When the first runners completed their goal by beating their own routes in a virtual run, at 9:30 a.m. in the Ursynów district of Warsaw, on the grounds of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Institute of Oncology, all the runners were greeted by the hosts: Ida Nowakowska, Aleksandra Kurowska, Mateusz Kaczmarek and Damian Bąbol. A moment later, straight from Paris, everyone was greeted by Prof. Piotr Rutkowski from the National Institute of Oncology, who was exceptionally unable to be there. From the stage, all the runners were also greeted by the organisers of the Onk Run: Kamil Dolecki, President of the Sarcoma Association and Szymon Bubiłek, Board Member of the Sarcoma Association. "This year's edition of Onkobieg is the jubilee edition. Despite the challenging weather, we are receiving positive news and assurances from the runners that they do not intend to let up. I think that patients are also accompanied by various conditions during their treatment and, although it can be hard, they do not give up," said Kamil Dolecki, President of the Sarcoma Association, at the outset.
Around 1,400 runners ran on the grounds of the National Institute of Oncology, along a specially prepared route that this year overlooked the streets of Warsaw. They took off a few minutes after 11 a.m., having been warmed up beforehand by Karolina Sobieraj, a multiple Pole Sport champion. In line with the slogan "Together for health", Onkobieg runners all over Poland covered the next kilometres by tagging their photos on Social Media with the #Onkobieg sign. "The idea of the Onk Run was born at the Institute of Oncology. It was here 15 years ago that a group of patients together with medical staff decided to express their different feelings towards the disease through joint physical activity," recalled Szymon Bubiłek - Member of the Association's Board of Directors and organiser of the Onk Run - from the Onk Run studio.
All talks with invited guests were broadcast from the garden studio at the National Cancer Institute. Doctors, specialists in sports, healthy eating as well as patients and representatives of state institutions. They all accepted the organisers' invitations to remind them of preventive health care.
The organisers set up an Oncourse town, where runners could carry out free preventive tests, including a dermatoscopic skin examination at the #FuraZdrowia mobile office, blood glucose and blood pressure measurement performed by the Student Association of Laboratory Diagnosticians, or vitamin D measurement at the uPacjenta diagnostic point. Everyone could also learn how to perform a correct breast or testicular self-examination at the point of the "Amazons" Association Warsaw-Centre.
The oncourse cook-off was hosted by Emilia Bochenek, a culinary enthusiast, and the musical setting was provided by the band Sugars Right Hand Funky Club and Sereia de Varsóvia energising the runners along the route.
The organisers made sure that everyone could follow the entire event in real time with an online report. The entire coverage from the Warsaw studio is available on Onkobieg's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/onkobieg (https://bit.ly/3RwooIh) as well as the Sarcoma Association's YouTube channel at the link: https://youtu.be/yMWmjUp-JlA
"Onkobieg has been made up of wonderful people over the years and a huge part of it is the patients and supporters who bring incredible energy to the event. We are convinced that those of you who are in the middle of your treatment today will be at the start of the Onk Run next year and we will run together for health for the 16th time," - Ewa Styś, Member of the Sarcoma Association and organiser of the Onk Run, said in conclusion.
"15 Onkobieg Together for Health!" is co-financed with funds from the Ministry of Sport and Tourism.
PartnersMinistry of Sport and Tourism, Eko Cykl Organizacja Odzysku Opakowań S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Garden - Space Sp. z o.o., Compensa Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń S.A. Vienna Insurance Group, Pierre Fabre Polska, M&M Consulting, Bohema House Ecological Theatre, Bohema Dance Ecological Dance School, Project Zero Waste Sp. z o.o., Sanofi - Aventis Sp. z o.o., Sidnet Solutions Sp. z o.o., Swedish Orphan Biovitrum Sp. z o.o, Nashi Art., Novartis Poland Sp. z o.o., Only Only, Medicart healthcare Sp. z o.o, Euromed Medical Solution Sp. z o.o., LOOS Centrum Sp. z o.o., Rawicka Fabryka Wyposażenia Wagonów "RAWAG" Sp. z o.o., LiveU, Future Gate Sp. z o.o., Brand24, DPD Polska Sp. z .o.o, Uzdrowiska Kłodzkie S.A., Staropolanka, Roche Diagnostics Polska Sp. z o.o., Roche Polska Sp. z o.o., MSD Polska Sp. z o.o., Comprehensive Rehabilitation Centre, uPacjenta.pl.
Mission Partners: National Institute of Oncology Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute in Warsaw, Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw, Institute of Haematology and Transfusiology in Warsaw, College of Family Doctors in Poland, Polish Society of Oncological Surgery, Institute for Patient Rights and Health Education, Polish Cancer Society, Polish Society of Clinical Oncology, Polish Society of Clinical Oncology, Polish Psycho-oncological Society, Polish Coalition of Oncological Patients, Association for GIST Patients, Sarcoma Patient Advocacy Global Network, All.Can Poland, Melanoma Academy, ANIKAR Foundation, Polish Nursing Association, Association "AMAZONKI" Warsaw Centre, Wiesława Adamiec Carita Foundation, Association of Polish Sign Language Interpreters, Young Family Doctors.
Media Partners: Radio ESKA, TVP Kobieta, Głos Pacjenta Onkologicznego, portal onkologiczny zwrotnikraka.pl, portal CowZdrowiu.pl, magazine Służba Zdrowia, haloursynow.pl, Termedia Publishing House
The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, the Office of the Patient Ombudsman, and the Mayor of the Ursynów district of the City of Warsaw were honorary patrons of the event.
