Runner James Fitzpatrick to cover 95km on foot from Dublin to Baltinglass for Ukraine ambulance appeal
The Iron Horse crew including runner James Fitzpatrick
JAMES Fitzpatrick will set off from the gates of the Ukrainian Embassy in Ballsbridge at 7.30am tomorrow, Saturday 12 September, on a solo 95km run across the Wicklow Mountains to his home town of Baltinglass, aiming to raise €5,000 to buy and deliver a second humanitarian vehicle to Ukraine.
The route follows the Wicklow Way south through Marlay Park, Djouce, Lough Tay, Glendalough, Glenmalure and Aghavannagh, before turning west along the Slaney valley through Knockanarrigan and Donard to finish in Baltinglass. In total the run takes in roughly 2,900m of ascent, and Mr Fitzpatrick intends to complete the full distance in a single day. Sunset falls at 7.51pm, meaning the closing stages of the run are likely to take place in darkness, with a finish estimated somewhere between 8.30pm and the early hours of Sunday depending on conditions in the hills.
The fundraiser, called Petya’s Run, is being carried out in support of Drive to Save Lives (D2SL), a volunteer network that buys vehicles in Europe and drives them to vetted recipients in Ukraine. It follows an earlier trip in May, when Fitzpatrick and his partner collected a Mitsubishi L200 in Edinburgh and drove it themselves via Hull, Rotterdam, Germany and Poland to a contact in Lviv. That vehicle, nicknamed “The Iron Horse”, is now in service as an ambulance and casualty evacuation vehicle in the Donbas.
The €5,000 target for the second vehicle covers the cost of a road-worthy 4x4 or van (€2,500), fuel for the roughly 2,800km drive east and the crew’s return (€800), ferry crossings and tolls (€700), tax, insurance and documentation (€500), and a contingency fund (€500). Any money raised beyond the target will go toward additional medical supplies and humanitarian aid to be loaded onto the vehicle. So far, €425 has been raised locally.
Donors giving from €10 can have their name or a message written on the body of the vehicle once it reaches Ukraine. Organisers say the vehicle and any aid on board will be driven from Ireland to Lviv by ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg, then overland through France, Germany and Poland, with the journey documented in full and costs and receipts published for transparency.
Those who wish to can donate here.
