Costesti, 14 September - More than 100 young people from different regions of Moldova participated in a running competition organised on 14 September in Costesti, Ialoveni, the Youth Capital of the Republic of Moldova.
45 young volunteers from Ungheni and Orhei Youth Centers took part in the Marathon and run for youth rights, promoting healthy lifestyle, gender equality and civic participation of young people.
The Marathon covered two routes in Costesti: 3580 meters for 14-18-year-olds and 5370 m for 19-35-year-olds. The participants were greeted at the starting line by the Deputy Mayor of Costesti village and the head of the Ialoveni Culture Department.
The girls and boys, who were warming up at the starting line, confessed that they were happy to participate in that kind of events organised for young people.
Marina Juncu, 13, from Orhei said: ‘Many of my colleagues encouraged me to participate in the Marathon, I think sport is good for us! Anastasia, 16, also from Orhei added: ‘Participation in such activities is good for our health and for our physical development.’
Ecaterina Cerna, 18, is a young woman from Ungheni, member of the national athletics team, participant in the European Athletics Championships 2019, in North Macedonia. She joined the competition because she wanted to win. “Besides, I want to be a high-performance athlete in this kind of sport. I’d like to set as many records as possible and I urge, of course, all the young people to do as much exercise as possible and to have a healthy lifestyle.’
The distances were covered by all the participants in the competition. Among the Marathon winners there were several representatives of the Youth Centers. Romanovschi Dorin, from Ungheni is one of them. He won the 1st place in the category of 19-35-year-olds for men and said that exercising means life. “The young need to participate in as many activities of this kind as possible because many of the options that they have are vicious. Today, I came to Costesti to win and I did!’
Another winner from Ungheni is Paladi Ana-Maria, who took the 1st place in the category 19-34-year-olds for women. She demonstrated that women and men are equal in their abilities to practice different kind of sports and win competitions.
All the participants received Certificates of Participation, and the medal-winners received gifts from the Costesti Mayor’s Office and the sponsors. This Marathon was part of the ‘Costesti-Youth Capital 2019’ National Program, implemented by “Alternativa” NGO with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, in partnership with Costesti Mayor’s Office.
The participation of young volunteers from Youth centres was supported by the Joint Fund for Developing Youth Centers and Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement of Young People in the Republic of Moldova, set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United Nations Population Fund.
The Fund supports young people to be actively engaged in activities promoting a healthy lifestyle and civic engagement and participation, through sports, youth festivals, workshops and other similar events.
