Interview with Vadim
I think it would be a good start to tell our participants how you heard about parkruns (S95) in Belgrade! So, please tell me how you learned about S95 BGD :)
The story started even before I arrived to Belgrade. I was preparing for moving here, and I started reading some Serbian chats. And in one of them there was an invitation from Sveta to join the first #S95 run - just on my first Saturday in Belgrade.
It's a good start for a new life at the new location, I thought. And it really was.
There were only 4 runners that day, and I'm very glad that now there are much more of them.
Have you participated in parkrun-like events before? Please tell about this experience.
I've heard about parkruns several years ago, and I joined in at the end of February 2022 in Moscow. Maybe I was one of the last parkrunners registered in Russia.
Then in our local park a heir community, MyRUNo, was born and I took part several times both as a runner and a volunteer. Now I'm ready to share some photos from these events.
Do you miss something about MyRunNo runs?
People. There are a lot of creative people there. Almost every Saturday they have something special.
And now they provide some kind of training every day, say yoga on Mondays, some hill running on Wednesdays, volleyball on Fridays.
I'm not sure if we also need such saturated weeks here, maybe at the moment we don't have a critical mass of volunteers who are eager to carry all these activities but if it happens, I think, everybody will be encouraged.
Denis [MyRunNo event-director] also told me about wine tasting you organised at MyRunNo... :) please tell about it too!
He exaggerates. As far as I remember, once I've brought some seasonal fruits and a couple of bottles of wine. It was only once and even not on Saturday; 'coz what's is a couple of bottles of wine for 100+ people that usually gather on Saturdays? Moreover, he's always against drinking some alcoholic in public (it's forbidden by Russian laws). In fact, we had a special restaurant to drink 🤪
Let's speak about your running background. Sometimes one can hear that "the volunteers don't run." Is this true about you?
Definitely not. I like to run, I've participated in several half marathons and marathons. Hope, my PBs in these distances as well as 10K are still waiting for me!
Do you prepare your running plans by yourself or do you have a running coach who does it for you?
I have a coach. We've got acquainted in MyRUNo :)
And she's very professional and strict:)
So, I not only run but do some core and legs exercises
Share with us your running achievements you are proud of :)
Oh, I ran Berlin Marathon '2022 together with Eliud Kipchoge. He set a WR that time. Although I haven't seen him, but my support team did, and made cool photos 😎
Another time I ran Vienna Marathon '2018 with Dennis Kimmeto who had WR at that time. He DNF, but I did. Isn't that an achievement 🤪?
What running goals you'd like to achieve in the future?
Qualify for some major marathon as a fast runner. For example, for Berlin the level is 2:45
I believe you can do this! The one who survived BGD marathon 100% will qualify for a major :) Back to speaking about S95. Why do you continue participating in S95 runs?
First, it was a good start to socialize. I met a lot of great people here, including our founder. With her, we sometimes participate in other activities.
I would like to organize some good collaboration among runners and not only runners. That's why the initiatives to do some yoga or slackline after run are amazing!
Is there something you think is missing in S95 runs? Maybe some activities, more slow runners, more fun runs, etc. :)
Slow runners... I'm a slow runner now 😂
Fun / children / Ada runs - maybe
Other activities rather than running, such as yoga, maybe swimming, games (basketball to attract more Serbians😂)
Maybe it's time to have our own banner to be more recognizable
Why is it worth participating in a S95 run?
I think, it's a good start to run at all, 'cause we welcome all participants. It's not a competition but rather a club. A club of amateurs in fact. We are different, someone is marathon runner, someone prefer trails, another has their limit at 5 km. Someone prefers cycling, another - wrestling. But all of us are active people, and we are friends
And my last question is the following: is there anything else I haven't asked you but you'd like to share with us? :)
If I have some additional thoughts I'll share them in the chat
Thank you for your questions, we've discussed a lot of topics 👍
Thank you! I'm really grateful for your willingness to organize runs, volunteer, run, and for your support as well! I'm glad that we got acquainted through parkruns in Belgrade.
See you at one of the majors ;) and ofc on Saturday after your vacation!
