Jogging has been one of the favorite sports among the expat community in Kyiv and spring makes them more noticeable and possibly more abundant. The Kyiv Post interviewed several prominent foreigners about fitness and jogging in Ukraine’s capital.
French ambassador
French Ambassador Isabelle Dumont discovered jogging in 2009 when she lived near Central Park in New York City.
“I took part in running competitions and that was very nice,” she says with a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “Running gives you an impression that you feel your body. That’s what I like in it.”
Dumont managed to do a marathon in Paris last year. This year she plans to participate in the Kyiv’s half-marathon race on April 17. Nowadays, Dumont mostly runs on a treadmill at her residence. It’s softer than pavement and easier on the knees, she explains.
She doesn’t find Kyiv streets suitable for running because of air pollution and prefers jogging in the countryside or in parks.
French Ambassador Isabelle Dumont gestures as she gives an interview to the Kyiv Post after jogging in Taras Shevchenko Park on April 5. The Ambassador believes that promoting healthy lifestyle among Ukrainians is part of her diplomatic mission. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Dumont believes that promoting a healthy lifestyle is part of her diplomatic mission. “Here in Ukraine you have extremely good professional sportsmen but as far as I understand Ukrainians don’t do as much sports as we do in France,” she says.
But more Ukrainians are taking part in the Nova Poshta Kyiv half-marathons – from 540 in 2010 to 6,200 in 2015. This year the organizers expect to have 7,500 participants.
Runs helps thinking
Gerry McIntosh, a project team leader at British Council in Ukraine, is a devoted runner. He has lived in Kyiv for nine years and participated in the last three Kyiv half-marathons.
McIntosh goes for a run six days a week and runs 70-120 kilometers per week.
“Running helps me to think things through,” he says. “It’s the one hour of each day when I’m on my own and my thought process is uninterrupted.”
British Council employee Gerry McIntosh is a devoted jogger. He exercises six times a week and can run half marathon for 68 minutes. (Courtesy)
McIntosh usually trains around Obolon and Podil districts in Kyiv. He finds Kyiv streets unfit for jogging. “A car is a king in Kyiv. Even on pavements,” he says.
McIntosh names Park Druzhby Narodiv on Trukhaniv Island with its area of 211 hectares as his favorite running spot in town.
Kyiv streets embarrass
Rina Hanis Rodzli, a counselor for the ambassador of Malaysia in Ukraine, likes outdoor running. She took part in a 10-kilometer run in Malaysia and plans to participate in a five-kilometer run in Kyiv this April.
“I like the feeling when I run. I feel free and almost levitating,” she says.
Rodzli jogs in parks or in the open field near her home in Kyiv. She also finds Kyiv streets not suitable for running because there are many pedestrians and the streets are not clean.
Solving daily problems
Jogging is one of many sports hobbies of Swiss Ambassador in Ukraine Guillaume Scheurer, along with hiking, cycling and skiing. Scheurer started jogging when he was 16 and now runs, on average, 10 kilometers at least once a week.
Scheurer finds jogging even more beneficial for his mind than his body.
“It really liberates you and puts you in a state when you can clean your head of the daily problems, start thinking very much ahead of the problems so that you can plan and activate your imagination,” he says.
The ambassador prefers to jog in the park around the World War II Museum and the Motherland Statue, as well as on the Trukhaniv Island and in Hydropark.
He also trains his dog to jog and enjoys running in the company of his pet.
With the arrival of spring Scheurer is willing to discover new running routes in the city.
“I really believe Ukraine and Kyiv as a city offer a lot of nice opportunities to have a very healthy lifestyle,” Scheurer says. “To pretend the contrary could be only laziness.” n
