The runners covered a seven-kilometre route for Dawid Witczak, a four-year-old resident of Rudna municipality who has suffered from hydrocephalus and myelomeningocele since birth. The boy has undergone two operations and is awaiting further procedures, but thanks to intensive rehabilitation, he can sit unaided and is beginning to crawl. More than PLN 5,000 was raised during the run, which the boy’s mother will use to purchase a new specialist wheelchair.
The starting packages sold out rapidly, but the hot weather and sandy ground took a heavy toll on the competitors. The noble purpose of the event was what mattered, however. In fact, only 800 metres of the route led steeply uphill; afterwards, the run followed the crest of the embankment, and then the route led downhill. “We wanted not only to help Dawid, but also to show the reservoir, which is normally inaccessible to residents,” admitted Łukasz Dominów from the KGHM Polska Miedź SA volunteer group.
All competitors received commemorative medals, while the fastest runners were presented with cups by Witold Laskowski, vice-president of KGHM Polska Miedź SA. In the women’s category, the first to cross the finish line were Elżbieta Botuszyn, Agnieszka Jaskot and Dorota Francikowska. Among the men, the best times were achieved by Tomasz Lubaś, Dominik Sas and Grzegorz Pawłowski.
The run accompanied an all-day event at the stadium in Rudna, where the KGHM Polska Miedź SA Hydrotechnical Plant organized an Open Day for residents of the municipalities of Rudna, Polkowice and Grębocice. Visitors could learn about the process of producing copper concentrate, view minerals extracted from underground, donate blood and register with the bone marrow donor bank.
The organized short trips to the crest of the Żelazny Most reservoir embankment also attracted considerable interest. Most visitors were surprised by the small amount of water and the huge sandy beaches, more than 200 metres wide, stretching from the crest towards the centre of the reservoir.
Żelazny Most currently covers nearly 1,400 hectares and is 3 metres deep at its very centre, while the embankment crest is just over 14 km long. Each year, the reservoir receives between 20 and 26 million tonnes of waste from copper ore flotation, three-quarters of which is returned for reuse, while the water, after treatment, is discharged to the Ore Enrichment Plants and the Oder.
Rudna municipality