– On Saturday, January 14, we met in Iwiny for the eighth time to run and also help. This year, the “Spacerek...” was held for Kacper Cechner – says Dariusz Pachnik, the event’s co-organizer. The thirteen-year-old boy, a resident of Raciborowice (Warta Bolesławiecka municipality) and a student at the lower secondary school in Iwiny, suffers from progressive drug-resistant epilepsy. The illness has become so severe that the so-called epileptic seizures occur even several times a day. They have made it impossible for Kacper to attend school normally. Currently, teachers travel to Kacper to provide individual instruction. – Treatment is becoming increasingly expensive, and we decided to help Kacper and his parents at least a little – emphasizes D. Pachnik.
The “Spacerek...” was also one of the stages of the Running Grand Prix of the Copper Basin. Dariusz Pachnik: – When we began cooperating with RCS Lubin eight years ago, we were their only partner, and the run in Iwiny was the only event held outside Lubin. Today, several centers, including Złotoryja, Nowa Sól, Chocianów, Ruja, Ścinawa and Legnica, take part in the Running Grand Prix. This season, as many as ten runs will be held. Interest in the Running Grand Prix grows from year to year; in sporting and organizational terms, it is also getting better and more interesting.
The run follows a permanent, beautiful route through the forest along the Okmiany Embankment and is just over 5.6 km long. This year, the run took place in truly wintry conditions. Light frost and falling snow frightened neither regular participants nor the many newcomers. Despite the heavy snowfall, the route was professionally prepared. – At this point, we should sincerely thank Anna Rościszewska, president of the Municipal Communal Services Company in Lubków – says the event’s co-organizer. – When we made a timid request to clear the route of snow, Mrs. Ania immediately sent an employee with equipment. He prepared the route brilliantly. Not only was it cleared of snow twice, but sand was spread along its entire length! That was not all. Mrs. Ania took part in the run and also brought along the Bolesławiec winter swimmers, of whom she is herself a member!
This year’s “Spacerek...” was record-breaking in every respect. Nearly 260 people ran for Kacper, and 204 of them completed the run. – It is probably the largest running event in the Bolesławiec area at the moment – adds Dariusz Pachnik. – As for the figures, there is one more, but most important, number – PLN 2,700. That is how much we managed to collect and hand over to Kacper’s parents. The amount consisted of the entry fee, a heart-rate-monitor watch donated by the Niedźwiedzki family from Lubin and sold at auction for PLN 660, as well as an unexpected PLN 500 donation from the Zeszutko family from Iwiny.
After the run, everyone went to the event center, located at the School and Preschool Complex in Iwiny. There, they could taste delicious goulash soup prepared by Bożena Zaremba and Marta Kokosińska. The rolls served with the soup were baked, as every year, by the Familijna bakery from Warta Bolesławiecka. And, traditionally, they did so free of charge.
Both the organizers (the Regional Sports Center in Lubin, the Municipal Cultural Center in Warta Bolesławiecka, and the “Tukan” and “Orientpark.pl” Iwiny Student Sports Clubs) and Kacper and his family sincerely thank everyone who contributed to organizing the “Spacerek...”, especially the young people from the School and Preschool Complex in Iwiny.
